Ana And Zaira Stark
by Ana Zaira Stark
Summary: Ana and Zaira were raised by their father and Pepper Potts after their mother mysteriously disappeared. Their lives change drastically when Tony Stark reveals himself to be Iron Man and now they face dangers that will reveal the mysteries of their family. Iron Man
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first Fic of the Avengers, I've seen almost all his movies and read many fics of them that decided to write one of how it would have been if our favorite Playboy Genius had two daughters, which their lives would change forever at the moment that their father reveals himself to be Iron Man.**

 **I rewrote this story since I came back to see the Avengers saga and had a new beginning in this story, but the plot will remain the same. I hope that this time I do not have many mistakes and it does not seem that the story focuses only on Ana.**

 **Hope you like**

* * *

 **Malibu, California 1999**

Inside a pink room full of toys, in one of the two beds there were two beds, a girl of six years of long brown hair and brown eyes was sitting reading a book of Mystic Arts, many believed that a girl of her age alone she read princess books, but she, despite her young age, understood too much what she read.

"Ana Valeria Stark!" Pepper enters the room and the girl quickly hides the book. "It's almost ten o'clock at night, you should be asleep and not only you, your sister too, who, by the way, where is she?"

"I'm sorry Pep, but Zaira and I are not sleepy." Ana gets up from the bed.

"It does not matter, it's already too late and you two should sleep." Pepper sits Ana. "Now tell me... Where is Zaira?"

* * *

On the other side of the house there was a girl who looked exactly like Ana, only her eyes are green, she goes down the stairs to the garage where she finds her father's robots and many cars of the year, smiles with enthusiasm and climbs onto the chairs. to get to your father's computer and start typing to decipher the password and see the files.

"If you were not my daughter, I swear I would call the police," says a voice behind her.

Zaira is scared quickly when she finds her father standing in the garage entrance.

"Hehehehe hello daddy."

"Once again, get out of bed to see my stuff." standing next to her. "You remind me when I was your age."

"Really?"

"Yes ... only that when I was a kid there were no computers and much less girls that can decipher passwords". Seeing her seriously and Zaira laughs nervously. "I'm afraid of imagining what it would be like when you're an adult ... or worse, a teenager."

"Please, Dad, I'm six years old and I'm big and I understand many things." Zaira crosses her arms.

"Then miss, tell me, what is the law of universal gravitation?"

"It is a classic physical law that describes the gravitational interaction between different bodies with mass, it was formulated by Isaac Newton in his book Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, published in 1687, where he establishes for the first time a relationship of proportional force with that attracted by two objects with mass. " Zaira answered proudly.

"Very well." Stark looks at her with pride. "That's one of my daughters, now tell me about General Relativity." sitting in front of her.

"It is a theory of physics published in 1905 by Albert Einstein, which arises from the observation that the speed of light in vacuum is the same in all systems of inertial reference and to obtain all the consequences of the principle of relativity of Galileo, according to him, Any experiment carried out, in an inertial reference system, will develop identically in any other inertial system ". Zaira smiles.

"Wrong!" Stark gets up and Zaira looks at him confused. "It is a theory of the gravitational field and of the general systems of reference".

"Got damn!"

"Be careful with that little mouth, miss." Stark crosses his arms. "Zaira, I told you a thousand times, for you and for Ana, you are still very Young and there are things that you still have to learn".

"But daddy ..."

"No buts ... to bed?" Pointing the stairs and Zaira gets up. "I'm sure Miss Potts noticed your absence."

"You have no idea." Pepper goes downstairs with Ana. "Zaira!"

"Hehehe hello Pep." Zaira looks at her nervously.

Tony laughs funny at the situation because every time it happens the same thing he enjoys.

"It's not funny, Tony, I found Ana reading the Mystic Arts book again and I did not find any trace of Zaira in the room." Pepper looks seriously at Zaira.

"Ana again?" Tony looks at her. "If you want to read magic, I'll buy you that Harry Potter book, I hear it's good for your age."

"But it's not magic what I read, I read about Mystic Arts" Ana smiles.

"Well, the mystic artist and the password cracker are going to bed at this moment, which is already late and tomorrow you have school." Tony points the stairs.

"Yes daddy." Both going up the stairs.

"Right now I reach you." Pepper watches them go up. "Your daughters are somewhat difficult." watching Tony.

"I know, but thanks to you I can handle them." Tony feels calm.

"I love your daughters, I would do anything for them." Pepper smiles.

"JARVIS, where are the girls?"

 _ **"They're both in the kitchen."**_

"I'm not surprised." He smiling funny "Both are identical to their mother."

"I'll go for them, they should not see the cookies." Pepper climbs the stairs quickly.

Tony smiles funny, definitely always fun. He goes to his desk and pulls out from a drawer a photograph of a beautiful woman in her early twenties, brown hair, olive complexion and blue eyes.

"Our daughters are identical to you, you told me they are very special ... but ... I wonder, what will become of them in the future?" Tony says a little worried but releases the photo. "Well, I should not worry about that ... Jessica is waiting for me tonight."

 **"Sir, I remind you that Miss Maya Hinsen wishes to see you."**

"Tell her that we'll see each other in New York at the New Year's party, tell her that she will not regret it."  
he says as he climbs the stairs.


	2. Chapter 2

**9 Years Later**

 **Hotel Caesars Palace, Las Vegas**

 _ **"Tony Stak… visionary, Genius, American from an early age, the son of legendary weapon developet Howard Stark quickly stole the spontligh with his brilliant and unique mind….**_

The audience saw and heard the video where the beginnings of Tony Stark were seen at the time of the photographs, everyone was surprised to hear that since childhood he was very intelligent and built many things in his youth.

All except two beautiful teenagers with brown hair that extend slightly under the breast, olive complexion, oval face, but in spite of being identical, both have different eyes: Ana has her hair loose, she wears a short-sleeved wine dress that she reaches her knees and black boots that reach under her long-heeled knees, she looked at the nervous door, while Zaira has her hair half loose, dressed in a dark green dress with drooping shoulders, long reach above her knees and Black high-heeled shoes and she was busy playing with her cell phone ignoring the event.

"You should pay attention to the video." Obadiah whispers to them.

"Please, uncle, we know Tony Stark." Zaira said.

"And also when he invited us to Las Vegas, it was supposed to be a family moment, not to go to another prize." Ana says without stopping to read.

"And the worst thing is that I do not have access to casino games because of my age." Zaira says annoyed.

"By the way." Ana looks around. "Where is dad?" Realizing that it is not.

"I'd like to know that." Obadiah said.

"Oh no, not again." Ana almost hits the book.

"Are you really asking about Tony Stark?" Zaira mocks and the audience applauds when the video ends and the lights illuminate Rhodey on stage. "Well, better tell my uncle not to call him." funny

"As liaison to Stark Industries." Rhodey looks at the public. "I've had the unique privilege of serving with a real patriot."

"Although he thinks the opposite of patriot." Zaira whispers amused and Ana laughs softly.

"He is my friend and he has been my mentor, ladies and gentlemen, it is my honor to present this years Apogee Award to Mr. Tony Stark." Rhodey finished.

The applause sounded when everyone looked to where Obhadia and the girls noticed that Tony Stark is absent.

"Tony?"

Obadiah shakes his head, letting Rhodey understand that Tony Stark is not there. Obadiah and Rhodey look at the girls, both knew what the two are trying to say, Zaira plays again with her cell phone and Ana shakes her head and gets up.

Deep down they knew that his father would not only take them to Las Vegas to spend time with the family, but he needed someone to receive the prizes for him and they both hated that.

Ana smiles at Rhodey, takes the prize and hugs her until, after turning around to see the audience, she did not like to speak in front of many people, but sometimes it was necessary.

"Thank you, thank you very much... Obviously I'm not Tony Stark!" Ana joked and everyone laughed. "But I can absolutely say that he would be honored for receiving such an amazing award. I'm sure my father has a very good reason for not being here. The best thing about my dad could also be considered the worst in that he is always working."

"Working ?, but of course ... in La Vegas he works with women" Zaira whispers funny.

"And playing casino." Obadiah whispers.

"I just want to say thank you." Ana smiled.

Everyone whistled and applauded even louder when Rhodey and Ana left the stage. Zaira smiles and applauds her sister and more when she sees her return to the table with Rhodey.

"I'm glad you did not faint." Zaira smiles at her sister.

"I was a few seconds away from doing it." Ana sits down.

"Where is Tony?" Rhodey asks

"Where else ?, In the casino as always". Zaira responds

"I'm going to look for it." Rhodey gets up.

"I already did it for you." Pepper approaches. "I'll find him surrounded by a crowd, in the spice of women." rolling her eyes "Ana, listen to your speech, I'm proud of you." smiling.

"Thanks, Pep." Ana smiles.

"I'll go for Tony." Rhodey gets up.

"I'll go with you." Ana gets up.

"Of course not Ana, it's time for you and your sister to go home." Pepper says

"But pep ..."

"Do not worry, Pepper, I'll take care of her and she'll go back to Tony while scolding him."

"Alright." Pepper looks at him.

"Easy Pepper, come on Ana." Rhodey leaves the room with Ana.

"Do not you want to go look for it?" Obadiah looks at Zaira.

"Go to a casino where I know I can not play and I have to put up with ... no, thanks." Zaira keeps her cell phone. "Come on, Pep, I'm bored." leaving the room

"Mr. Obadiah, in case you rent a car from Ana in case Tony does something silly, I asked an employee to tell him if he takes it, please let me know."

"Do not worry, Pepper, I'll let you know."

"Thank you." Pepper leaves the room and is surprised to find the twins together. "Ana, were not you with Rhodey?"

"They did not let me in because of my age." Ana responds.

"Well... I'll make a cancellation while we're in the car, let's go girls."

The three left the hotel and after a while, an employee gives Pepper a red Ferrari, Ana enters the back seat, Zaira in the driver's seat, Pepper looks at them with concern and sits in the passenger seat.

"Listen, I know you're both upset ... I promise you I'll have a great conversation with him when we get home, okay?" Pepper assured them.

"What will be the difference ... it will never change". Zaira looks at her seriously. "Where is the prize?"

"Here." Ana shows it to her

"All good." Zaira turns on the car. "Fasten your seatbelt." driving home quickly

* * *

"Work it! Come on!" Stark exclaimed after getting a good roll on the dice. Everyone around him applauded, especially the two women on either side of him. His eyes briefly observed the woman with long black hair who jumped with emotion in her low cut dress. She rubbed her breast sensually, managing to get his attention. "We should just stay 'till the morning."

"You are unbelievable." Rhodey told serious. "Unbelievable."

"Oh, no! Did they rope you into this?" Tony questioned with mock surprise as his current bedpost mark backed away so he could face his friend.

"Nobody roped me into anything. But they told me that if I presented you with an award, you'd be deeply honored."

"Of course I'd be deeply honored." Tony assured, "And it's you, that's great. So when do we do it?" He turned back to the craps table. "Uh, one more round.."

"Oh, there it is. That was easy." her caregiver said, taking it and looking at the two. "I'm so sorry."

"Yeah, it's okay." James said blankly.

"Wow! Would you look at that? That's something else." Tony said with disinterest, glancing at it before handing it off to the woman on his right. "Like I don't have any of those floating around." The man leaned over the table and pushed the chips he just won at the game forward. "We're gonna let it ride!" Grabbing the red dices, he placed them in front of woman in the black dress. "Give me a hand, will you? Give me a little something-something." She complied, blowing on them for good luck. The dices moved towards Rhodes. "Okay, you too."

I don't blow on a man's dice, he protested. Tony thrust his clenched hand further to the man's mouth, raising his eyebrows. "I don't…" pushed Tony's hand away, causing the dice to be thrown down the table.

"And it's the Lieutenant Colonel's Rhodes throw, and..."

The dice stopped.

"That's what happens." The Colonel shrugged.

"Worse things have happened," Tony gave him a look. "I think we're gonna be fine. Colour me up, will you?"

"You're a difficult case, Tony." Rhodey said.

"Thanks friend." Tony puts on his jacket. "Now tell me, Obadiah received my award."

"No, Ana received it." Rhodey smiles.

"Ana?"

Yes, believe me, she was struggling not to faint."

"I would love to have seen it, they grow so fast." Happy said.

"Do not even remind me." Tony says quickly. "Are they upset?"

"You think?, you told them to spend some time with the family, but you brought them to Las Vegas and spent hours with them." Rhodey looks at him seriously.

"I was busy."

"Tony, we told you that Las Vegas is not a place for them, they are teenagers." Says Rhodey.

"And at that age, believe me you have to take care of them, why do you think I'll hire a bodyguard for my daughters?" Tony says calmly.

"You are despicable."

"This is where I exit," Tony said.

"Tomorrow don't be late." Rhodey reminded Tony.

"Yeah, you can count on it." Tony grinned.

"I'm serious."

"I know, I know."

* * *

Pepper and the girls enter the house, when the exhausted girls enter, they drop on the couch and finally they are at home.

"What time is it?" Ask Ana.

"It's almost 10 o'clock at night." Pepper responds by keeping the prize with others.

"If you drive very fast" Ana looks at Zaira.

"I know, we saved time."

"And that worried me." Pepper looks at them

"I'll go to my room, I want to take off this dress, makeup and sleep." Zaira gets up from the couch. "Good night."

"Rest Zaira." Pepper smiles.

"Me too." Ana gets up from the couch. "But I'll read for a while and then I'll go to sleep."

"Sure, Ana." Pepper kisses his forehead. "Rest well."

"You too." Ana goes to her room and locks herself up. "Hi JARVIS."

 _ **"Good evening Miss Ana, how was your trip to La Vegas?"**_

"Well ... remember to reject my dad's invitations to go to Las Vegas, of course ... while I'm a minor." Ana goes to her room.

 **" _As you order."_**

Ana takes off her dress, puts on her pajamas, removes makeup and then sits on her bed and begins to read Anatomy of a book with clinical orientation. She has her own library that contains several books of mystical arts, medicine, science and novels.

She has a great dream, she wants to be a neurosurgeon, cardiologist and pediatrician, and she had some Universities in mind to study in New York, although in reality she has another reason to want to study medicine.

* * *

Zaira also takes off her dress, makeup and puts on her pajamas, lies down on her bed to watch the movie Scream. Take a control and enter a password with peace of mind to open the window, take out a cigarette and start smoking while watching the movie, did not get bored almost in Las Vegas, managed to have fun in his own way but obviously his father and his sister does not know how had fun.


	3. Chapter 3

Ana left her room very early because her father would travel to Afghanistan and wanted to say goodbye to him, although the night before she was still angry, she goes to the kitchen to prepare breakfast, knowing that her father is in his laboratory. While cooking, turn on the television and start watching The Addams Family of 1964. When she finishes cooking, she hears a voice calling her father. The voice became known, but he decided to ignore it since listening to the voices of the women in the house is nothing new.

"Tony?" A woman who only wears Tony's shirt looks for him in the living room. "Hey, Tony?"

She walked down a hallway, admiring the house before looking at some kind of scanning device, not realizing that Zaira was watching her from a distance. Christine nervously placed a finger on it, before backing away immediately, the device blinked red when JARVIS's voice sounded throughout the house.

 **"You are not authorized to access that área."**

"Jesus." Christine muttered.

"Not Jesus, is JARVIS and is in charge of the security of the house." Zaira says scaring Christine. "And do not bother trying again because it will sound again."

"Hello, I'm C…. "

"I know who you are, Christine Everhart, of Vanity Fair magazine."

"That's me." Christine smiles as she approaches to see her better. "By your eyes... I must assume that you are Zaira."

"Yes, it's me." Zarai responds seriously

Ana manages to listen to them from the kitchen, she is terrified to imagine that her sister does something that regrets and quickly leaves the kitchen.

"Everything okay?" Ana approaches quickly.

"Yeah, JARVIS just scared Dad's guest." Zarai answers.

"And you must be Ana. My name is Christine Everheart, from Vanity Fair magazine." She introduced herself with a smirk on her face. "I always wanted to meet you both, but it's rare to find the Stark twins together."

"Not because we are twins, we should always be together." Zaira folded her arms.

"Zaira." Ana looks at her seriously.

"Girls, could I ask you some questions about your father?"

"You can ask, but we do not guarantee an answer." Zaira responds with indifference.

"How does it feel to be Tony Stark's daughters, how could I raise them after his wife left him and disappeared mysteriously?"

The word "left" is what the twins hate, Ana tries to control her desire to cry, while Zaira looks furious at Christine who kept smiling at them.

"Listen to me your little b..."

"I think there are no more questions" Peper approaches with Christine's clothes. "As Zaira must have explained, that was JARVIS, and he runs the house." Ana and Zaira fall back a little. "Miss Everheart I've got your clothes here, they've been dry cleaned and pressed. And there's a car waiting for you outside that will take you anywhere you'd like to go.

"And you must be the famous Pepper Potts." Christine smiled thinly.

"Indeed I am." Pepper replied.

"After all these years, Tony still has you picking up the dry cleaning." Christine smirked again.

"I do anything and everything that Mr. Stark requires. Including, occasionally, taking out the trash. Will that be all?"

Zaira suppressed a laugh and Christine angrily takes her clothes and went to the room to get dressed.

"She is a wretch." Zaira upset.

"I know, but she's leaving now." Pepper smiles at them. "Are you Ok?"

"We are fine." Ana smiles and pulls out a small box from her pants. "Happy Birthday."

"Ana, thank you." Pepper smiles and grabs the gift.

"I'll be right back!" Zaira screams as she flees to her room.

Pepper smiles in a funny way, she opens the gift and is surprised to see a beautiful gold locket with an oval shape and with the initial of her name with a diamond stone, she opens it and looks at a picture of her with the girls from her birthday last year.

"Oh my God." Pepper takes out the locket. "Ana ... it's ... it's beautiful." hugging her "Thank you."

"You're welcome, Pep, you want me to wear it."

"Yes please." Giving her the locket and she turns around.

Zaira runs down the stairs, quickly enters her room and takes Pepper's gift from inside her closet and returns quickly.

"Happy birthday Pep!" Zaira extends the gift.

Pepper looks funny, since it's always like that on her birthday, she opens the gift and surprises a silver comb with blue sapphires, that's what Pepper wanted for months, but when she finally had the money to buy it she had already been sold, but now she had her hands.

"Zaira." Pepper looks at her surprised. "It's beautiful." hugging her

"The best for my favorite godmother Pep". Zaira hugs her.

"She is our only godmother." Ana smiles

"And you are my little ones." Pepper hugs them. "Thanks girls."

"You're welcome Pep." Both embrace her

"Go ahead, go to breakfast, I have to talk to your father about something, and thank you, girls." Pepper said.

The girls nod and go to the kitchen.

"You were rude to Christine." Ana looks at her seriously.

"I don't care, besides ... I was about to hit her for that stupid question." Zaira upset

"Luckily, Pep arrived on time." Ana sighs in relief. "If not, now you would have problems with Christine's lawyers."

"Please, I have money and with that I solve it." Zaira says with pride.

"It's not good that you trust money, not always help. " Ana starts preparing breakfast.

"Well, it helps me."

"Do you want scrambled eggs?" Ana asks without seeing her because she does not want to argue.

"Yes please."

* * *

Tony was in his lab listening to loud rock music while playing with a car engine. Holding part of the engine he went to one of the screens.

"Give me an exploded view"

" **The compression in cylinder 3 seems to be low.** " JARVIS commented.

"Note that."

Pepper Potts came down the steps of Tony's lab while talking on the phone.

"Okay, I'll keep you posted." Pepper snapped the phone shut.

"Don't turn down my music," Tony said, not turning round.

"You are supposed to be half way around the world right now." Pepper said.

"How'd she take it?"

"Like a champ."

"Why're you trying to hustle me out of here?" Tony asked.

"Your flight was scheduled an hour an a half ago."

"That's funny... I thought with it being my plane and all, that it would just wait for me to get there." Tony frowns slightly.

"Tony, I need to speak to you about a couple of things before I get you outta the door." Pepper began.

"I mean, doesn't it kind of defeat the purpose of having your own plane before it departs before you leave?" Tony asked as he turned to face his assistant.

"Larry called, he's got another buyer for the Jackson Pollock in the wings, do you want it, yes or no?"

"Is it a good representation of his Spring period?" Tony asked as he got up and wiped the oil from his hands with a cloth.

"Uh, no the _"Springs"_ is actually the neighborhood in East Hampton, where he lived and worked, not 'spring' like the season. I think it's a fair example... I think it's incredibly overpriced."

"I need it. Buy it, store it." He said as he stood up and walked past her to another section of his lab.

"Okay..." Pepper scribbled something down in her notebook and followed Tony. "The MI commencement speech…"

"Is in June," Tony interrupted. "Please, don't harangue me about that stuff."

"Well, they are haranguing me, so I'm gonna say yes..." Pepper says. "Now, I want to talk about your daughters."

"Yes, Rhodey told me what Ana did, are they still upset?" Tony asks while he sits down.

"Something because when you told them to go on a family trip, you never said it would be in Las Vegas." Pepper looks at it seriously.

"Well, I wanted it to be a surprise ... also they had fun."

"Tony ... Rhodey and I have told you many times not to use your daughters to receive your prizes and much less to take them to Las Vegas, we barely managed to prevent Zaira from getting into trouble. " Pepper says annoying.

"Yes, Happy and the hotel manager told me what Zaira tried to do." Tony looks at her with concern.

"And that's not all, you took them to Las Vegas, a city where the girls are not ready to go, they could only enter the shops of the hotels, Shopping Centers, that shop of those famous chocolates and museums of the Luxor hotel, well... Ana went to those mini-museums, especially the Titanic. " Pepper smiles a little. "I hope that when you return amendments that trip."

"And I'll do it, do not worry ... I'll take them to Universal Studios, it's their favorite park." Tony smiles.

"Yes, it's a very good idea and you can also take them to Six Flags Magic Mountain because they love those roller coasters." Pepper smiles.

"Me too, do you want to come?" Tony asks while he gets up.

"No, no ... I hate heights." Pepper says quickly and Tony smiles funny. "Now" held out a document. "I need you to sign this before you get on the plane."

"What are you trying to get rid of me for? What, you got plans?"

"As a matter of fact, I do." Pepper raised an eyebrow.

"I don't like it when you have plans."

"I'm allowed to have plans on my birthday."

"It's your birthday?"

"Yes." Pepper replied.

"I knew that. Already?" Tony frowned.

"Yeah, isn't that strange, it's the same day as last year." Pepper rolled her eyes.

"Well, get yourself something nice from me."

"I already did." Pepper smile.

"I see, it's beautiful." Tony looks at the locket.

"No, this is Ana's gift to me."

"Really?" Tony looks at her surprised.

"Yes, and Zaira gave me a beautiful silver comb with sapphires

"My daughters do not have bad taste, and what about my gift?"

"Oh, it was very nice," Pepper nodded. "Very tasteful. Thank you, Mr. Stark." She smiled.

"You're welcome, Ms. Potts." Tony said softly.

Pepper handed Tony a miniature cup of coffee, which Tony downed in an instant.

* * *

Zaira had breakfast while watching Ned's declassified School Survival Guide and Ana was looking for new medical books since she had read almost all of them.

"Maybe now you can do more than just read, something that has nothing to do with medicine." Zaira raises an eyebrow.

"I have read all the medical books and there is nothing new." Ana sighs exhausted. "It looks like I'll have to find another topic to read, but... I'll be ready for college." Smiling.

"You read all the medical books, you even know them by heart." Zaira rolls her eyes.

"You know very well that I have a photographic memory, that's why I can learn without needing to read again." Ana folded her arms.

"I also have a photographic memory, but I do not lose my life reading, I have fun for that is life." Zaira smiles with pride.

"Well ... one part is true, but you have to be prepared, I know what I want to do in the future and you?"

"I did not think much about that, but get married and have children ... obviously not."

"Well, I plan it, besides, I know you do not worry so much because you're the heiress of Stark Industries." Ana is still searching the internet.

"Sometimes I wish you were also the heiress, it's very heavy for me."

"I'm not interested in creating weapons, I'm against them and you know it." Ana says without seeing her.

"And that great project you work on?" Zaira asks interested.

"It's not a weapon, it's a protection." Ana raises an eyebrow. "I prefer medicine or also be a writer, I'm interested in literature."

"Yes, with the one who gave you reasons to study medicine?" Zaira looks at her funny. "You're crazy if you think he would notice you."

Ana does not answer because her sister wants that, to see her upset, and will not give her that pleasure.

"Hello, my girls." Tony approaches them.

"Good morning Dad." Ana smiles while Zaira ignores him.

"Good morning Zaira. Daughters, I want to apologize for our family trip to Las Vegas."

"Familiar trip?" Zaira looks at him. "It was more like your trip and we both went to do the boring part." folded her arms.

"My award is not boring." Tony looks at her offended, but his daughters look at him with raised eyebrows. "Ok, if it's boring and more if you're in Las Vegas, I want to compensate you both."

"Really?" They both look at him surprised.

"Yes."

"Will you let us travel alone?" Zaira asks excited.

"Of course no." Tony responds quickly by disappointing his daughter. "I told you Zaira, you and your sister are too young to travel alone."

"That's not true, Ana and I are fifteen years old". Zaira says angry.

"And I remind you that the allowed age for you two to do what you want is up to twenty-one years." Tony folded his arms and Zaira looks at him badly. "Well, as you know today, I'm going to Afghanistan."

"That by the way, our godfather called us, he's waiting for you." Zaira looks at him funny.

"I know, but when I get back in two weeks, I want us to go to Universal Studios and Six Flags Magic Mountain."

"Really?!" They look at him with enthusiasm.

"Sure, I want us to have a real family trip." Tony smiles at them.

"Thanks Dad! You're the best!" Ana hugs him.

"I know," he smiles proudly. "Ana, could you go to my room and bring my suitcase? I want to ask Zaira something."

"Yes Dad."

Tony watches his youngest daughter quickly walk away and turn around to see her older daughter who seems confused.

"Did you think about what I proposed?"

"What thing?" Zaira looks at him confused.

"A few days ago I asked you if you were going to come with me to Afghanistan?, I will show my new weapons and I want you to accompany me since some day ... the whole industry will be yours". Tony smiles.

"And what would I do?"

"You will go as my second in command, of course, since one day you will create your own weapons that will protect the country and show them in front of the army."

"Second in command?" Zaira asks surprised and Tony nods. "I mean ... I'm minor to travel alone, but I'm old enough to be your second in command? You're amazing."

"Really?"

"Yes, when it comes to the industry you want me to be there to learn everything because, of course, because I'm the oldest daughter, I'll be in charge of the industry, but when I want to travel, it's a no because I'm still a little girl."Zaira rolls her eyes.

Tony looks sadly at his daughter, since she was born, he always tries to prepare Zaira so that she can be in charge of Stark Industries when she is an adult, but he never thought he would force her too much.

"Zaira..."

"That's not all dad, you always see everything I do when it comes to the industry, but... you've never asked me what I want... or what Ana wants, because you don't know anything about Ana and... you barely know about me. "

"Of course if I know you, also Ana, I know my daughters." Tony looks at her offended.

"Really?, What does Ana want to do in the future? What does she read?, don't say about books about the Mystic Arts." Zaira looks at her father who was thoughtful. "And... what did I present in the science contest at the school last month that won the first place ?, the one you missed like the last six years."

Tony looks down and gets up grabbing his daughter's shoulder.

"You know ... I wish I had said something like that to my father." Tony looks at the ground. "You're braver than me, my father did not know me well and ... without realizing I followed his steps, I do not know my daughters."

Zaira knew the difficult relationship that his father had with Howard Stark, they did not have a good relationship between father and son and she regretted what she had said, but it was something she wanted to tell him but did not want to hurt him.

"Dad ... I ..."

"Hey, I'm not upset." Tony smiles sadly. "Not at all, I'll tell you what my mother told me, honesty can hurt feelings, but when it comes to family and friends ... it's better to be honest, I'm glad you're honest."

"I did not want to hurt you."

"And I did not realize that ... I did not have time to meet my daughters, I still believe that you and Ana are still those little girls who ran around the house playing." smiling. "I can not believe that you two have grown up." Zaira smiles. "Listen, we'll talk when I get back from the trip, you'll tell me your life and Ana will talk to me about her."

"Then I will not see you in a year." Zaira looks at him funny.

Tony smiles and kisses his forehead.

"I love you Zaira."

"And I love you daddy." Zaira smiles at him.

"Well, Happy helped me get your bags down, it also says it's time to go." Ana enters the kitchen.

"Rhodey sent Happy for me?" Tony looks at her.

"Yes, he also said that if you do not arrive in an hour he will send the army for you." Ana looks at him funny.

"Then I'd better hurry." Tony approaches Ana. "What are your plans in my absence?"

"Well ... work on my project, look for new books and ... I think I'll see some videos of the grandfather with Captain America."

"Really? No parties or hanging out with friends?" Tony looks at her surprised. "You know ... I thought your uncles would come to see you during my absence."

"Well ... Aunt Peggy and Uncle Joseph can not come to see us, Aunt Peggy got sick and he does not want to leave her." Ana says a little worried. "I wish I could see them, but he told me that I should be here with Zaira, who needs me."

"Of course, no." Zaira crosses her arms. "Uncle Joseph believes a lot because he lived through World War II and was one of the many that was saved by Captain America."

"Well, that old man is very boring, he does not know what the good life is and I doubt very much that at his age he can live it". Tonny says funny and Zaira laughs.

"It's not fun." Ana looks at them a little angrily.

"Come on Ana, at least tell me that you'll at least leave the house and the school."

"Well...I think I'm going out with Zaira to a mall and the movies." Ana smiles.

"Because she knows I'll take her by force." Zaira smiles with pride.

"I would love to go to the Captain America Museum, but it's only in Washington." Ana pouts.

"Why are you so interested in Captain America?" Tony looks at ana

 _"If you knew that she is in love with a doctor."_ Zaira thinks fun.

"Dad, Captain America is a hero who sacrificed his life for the country without asking for anything in return, that's what I admire about him."

"You talk like my father, please ... you know it's forbidden to talk about that captain in this house." Tony says seriously and Ana pouts. "Oh, do not put that face on me and better hug me since I'm going to the airport."

Ana rolls her eyes smiling and hugs him.

"I love you Ana."

"And I love you daddy, take care." Ana looks at him worriedly.

"Easy Ana, he'll be with Rhodey and a group of soldiers taking care of him." Zaira says quiet.

"You've already heard Zaira, nothing bad will happen to me." Tony kisses Ana's forehead and walks away. "Goodbye girls."

Ana sees her father leaving the house with Happy, for some reason, he knew that something bad was going to happen since his father gave him the news of the trip.

"I do not like this ... I do not like anything." Ana says worried.

"Easy Ana ... Dad will be fine, he'll be with the military." Zaira drinks her juice.

"I know but..."

"Listen, I do not know about you, but I'm going out, I have many plans." getting up from the chair.

"Like what? Being a female version of a Dad?" Ana crosses her arms.

"Hey, I'm not like dad, it's clear that I go out drinking, but... I'm still a virgin because women run the risk of getting pregnant." Zaira angry.

"Well ... that calms me down… a little." Ana says a little convinced. "Hey, but the fact that our uncles do not come does not forget that Pep and Happy will take care of us and that at least our uncles will call us from time to time."

"See you, good luck with your project." Zaira comes out of the kitchen.

"These will be two long weeks." Ana feels exhausted.

* * *

The next day, Ana spends her day in her father's lab building her biggest project: having her bracelets project holographic shields from the Tao Mandalas shield, a skill from the Mystic Arts. She has been working on that shield since last year, it was the job of her life that only Pepper, JARVIS and her father's robots knew what it was about, while her family believed it was something small.

His Tao Mandalas shield could deflect physical matter like a real shield, barely able to deflect it, so it should make it more resistant and last until it deactivates or lasts long enough in an attack, which she hopes will not be necessary, but as the daughter of one of the men on the planet millionaires Ana knew very well that he had to protect himself.

The laboratory listened the songs of Avril Lavigne because, like her father, Ana likes to listen to music while she works.

 _I hate it when a guy doesn't get the door  
Even though I told him yesterday and the day before  
I hate it when a guy doesn't get the tab  
And I have to pull my money out, and that looks bad_

"JARVIS, please, show me the inside of the bracelets." Ana looks at the screen

 **"Yes, Miss Ana."** JARVIS responded while showing it on the screen.

 _Where are the hopes, where are the dreams  
My Cinderella story scene?  
When do you think they'll finally see_

 _That you're not, not, not gonna get any better  
You won't, won't, won't, you won't get rid of me never  
Like it or not, even though she's a lot like me  
We're not the same_

"Thank you." Ana reviews the image. "Ok, this increases the capacity and will not be deactivated in a short time."

"Until now, the maximum duration of the shield is thirty minutes, but fortunately he has managed to avoid any test attack."

"Yes, but we do not know if I could dodge the bullets ... and I do not know if I dare to try without risking my life." Ana says something nervous. "That's why we will continue with the golf balls, they are very hard."

 **"Of course Miss Ana."**

 _Where are the hopes, where are the dreams  
My Cinderella story scene?  
When do you think they'll finally see_

 _That you're not, not, not gonna get any better  
You won't, won't, won't, you won't get rid of me never  
Like it or not, even though she's a lot like me  
We're not the same_

"Ok, now I'm going to ..."

"GIRLS!" Pepper screams all over the house. "ANA! ZAIRA!"

"Pep?" Ana looks at the stairs confused. "JARVIS, put the project on hold, save today's progress".

 **"As you wish."**

Ana puts the bracelets in her small chest and quickly climbs the stairs to find Pepper coming out of the kitchen desperate with red eyes.

"Pep?" Ana approaches nervously.

"ANA!" Pepper hugs her. "Ana, are you okay?"

"Yes why do you ask?" Ana looks at her confused.

"What?" Pepper looks at her confused. "You do not know?"

"What do not I know?"

"Where is Zaira?" Pepper looks around. "JARVIS, where is Zaira?"

 **"Miss Zaira is not at home, she left ten hours ago."**

"Oh no." Pepper quickly pulls out her phone. "Happy, yes ... yes, Ana is here but Zaira is out, JARVIS will send you the location where she is to bring her home ... yes ... yes, we are waiting for you here." Hanging. "JARVIS tracks Zaira's phone and sends the location to Happy."

 **"Understood Miss Potts."**

"Ana..." Pepper looks at her terrified and grabs her by the shoulders. "Listen to me ... everything will be fine".

Pep, you're scaring me ... what's wrong? Is something wrong?"

"You ... your father." Pepper tries to talk.

"What's wrong with my dad?" Ana looks at her scared.

"In Afghanistan, back from the presentation of Jericho ... the ... the unit that escorted him was ambushed, most of the unit was killed and Tony ..." Pepper begins to cry. "It was kidnapped".

"What?" Ana recoils impacted trying to process the information. "What do you say?"

* * *

Zaira drives her car at high speed after spending all day at the mall, drinking a little beer and flirting a bit with students at the University. She listened to music at full volume while dodging cars and motorcyclists.

 _Your mind on the fantasy  
Living on the ecstasy  
Give it all, give it  
Give it what you got  
Come on give it all a lot  
Pick it up move it  
Give it to the spot  
Your mind on fantasy  
Living on ecstasy_

 _ **"We interrupt this song to give an announcement."**_

"As if I was interested." Zaira rolls her eyes.

 _ **"The millionaire Tony Stark has disappeared after a terrorist attack!**_

"WHAT?!" Zaira exclaimed with an impacted look on the radio while driving.

 _ **"After the presentation of Tony Stark, the soldiers who were escorting him were attacked, so far confirmed seventeen dead, but it has been confirmed that Tony Stark did not find his body on the scene."**_

"That does not reassure me! Where is my dad?! WHERE IS ... AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

The light of a car manages to return to see the road, Zaira dodges quickly, which makes her lose control, leaves the road and the car begins to turn brutally and crashes into a tree, leaving Zaira severely injured and unconscious.


	4. Chapter 4

Ana and Happy were in the hospital waiting room waiting for news from Zaira, since Happy told Pepper about the accident, she and Ana went quickly to the hospital.

It was already early morning and even the doctors and nurses were not telling them anything, Pepper went to ask about Zaira and still does not come back.

"You want me to take you home so you can rest?" Happy asks Ana who denies without seeing him. "You need to rest." Ana does not respond. "Okay"

"Nobody wants to tell me anything." Pepper approaches desperately. "Did they tell you something?"

"Nothing Pepper". Happy answer

"God, this anguish is killing me." Pepper starts crying.

"I can not either!, my father was kidnapped and my sister is now between life and death." Ana cries. "I do not want to stay alone, I do not want to."

"No, not Ana." Pepper hugs her. "You will not be alone, you have us ... Zaira will recover and Rhodey will rescue your father, you will see".

Ana hugs her cry, as she learned about her father's kidnapping and Zaira's accident, felt that her world was destroyed, feared to be left alone without her family.

She could never overcome the abandonment of her mother and doubted that she could overcome losing her father and sister, if she lost them she had no reason to continue living.

"Excuse me, nurse." Happy approaches her. "Could you bring something to calm the girl?"

The nurse nods and moves away while Happy approaches Pepper and Ana.

"Ana, calm down... everything will be fine". Happy grabs her by the shoulder.

"Zaira Stark family?" Doctor approaches.

"I am her sister!" Ana approaches quickly.

"And I'm his godmother." Pepper approaches. "How is Zaira?"

"Miss Zaira arrived in a delicate state at the hospital and we doubted she would survive, but she miraculously resisted the operation." The doctor smiles at them as Pepper, Happy and Ana sigh in relief at the news. "Her right arm is in a cast and her left foot is a little crooked, nothing serious, because now we'll have to wait for her to wake up to see her evolution."

"Thank you Doctor." Pepper smiles.

"My sister is alive." Ana sits crying with happiness. "She is alive, thank God."

"I told you that she would be saved, Zaira is a strong girl". Happy grabs her by the shoulder. "Like her mother."

Ana looks at him surprised, very rarely Happy mentions her mother and her appearance. But she has no time to think about that now you should think about caring for Zaira until she recovers completely and wait for news of her father.

"Uncle Obadiah!" Ana runs to hug him.

"Ana." Obadiah hugs her. "My little one, are you okay?" Ana nods. " Thank God, is there news of Zaira?" watching Pepper and Happy.

"She's ok, thank God, she resisted the operation and now we just have to wait for her to wake up." Pepper responds.

"Thank God." Obadiah sighs in relief. "Any news from Tony?"

"Nothing, Rhodey is with a group looking for him in all of Afghanistan." The Pepper responds.

"They're going to find him ... you'll see." Obadiah caresses the head of Ana. "What will happen now?"

"Ana calls your uncles, they tried to call you but since you did not answer, they called me,but I told them that until I had news of Zaira ... you would call them." Pepper says spreading her cell phone.

"Oh no, with all this I forgot my cell phone." Ana holds her forehead while she calms down. "I'm sure... they're desperate." She grabs Pepper's cell phone and walks away.

Pepper waits until Ana is far enough away so she does not hear the conversation, and Pepper fears that Peggy's health will get worse with all this, maybe Tony has only seen them a few times in his life, but Peggy and her husband spent time with the girls, although lately not much with Zaira.

"Well... Tony left written that if something happened to him, Happy, Rhodey and I will take care of the girls." Pepper looks at him seriously. "For now both will miss school until their father appears."

"But both are going to delay their studies" Happy asks.

"They both have a photographic memory and the student congress called me after Tony went to Afghanistan, they want them to graduate from high school ahead of time and start college."

"That's geat!... But I can take care of the girls while Tony shows up." Obadiah says.

"I appreciate it very much, Mr. Stane, but as I said, Tony made it clear that if something happens to him, the girls will be in my care." Pepper says seriously. "So they stay with me."

Obadiah smiles and nods as he leaves to talk to a nurse. Pepper sighs a little exhausted and worried about everything that is happening.

"It's true what you said." Ana says behind Pepper frightening her "I heard that Zaira and I will graduate in a few months." she says surprised "Is it true?"

"Yes." Pepper smiles. "You have no idea how proud I am."

Ana smiles with enthusiasm, can graduate early and study medicine, but due to the situation in which she can not think about that if not in her family. When things are fixed, she can celebrate as she wants.

* * *

It's been days since Tony Stark was kidnapped and Zaira Stark suffered the accident, he still did not wake up. Ana stayed in the hospital taking care of her sister, Pepper managed to get the hospital to give her a room with two beds so that both could be together.

Doctors are surprised by Ana level of medical knowledge when she reviews her sister studies. When Pepper takes care of Zaira, who does it in the afternoons, Ana accompanies the doctors who teach her the sections and different parts of the hospital and allow her to help them in small cases.

On the sixth day, Ana read to Zaira the book of Memoirs of a Geisha, after a while she left the book and went to the cafeteria, she was lost in her thoughts since she had not yet received news from her father, but still she keeps praying for him.

"Oh!" Standing unexpectedly in front of a doctor. "Excuse me, I do not realize where..." she does not finish speaking because she is surprised to see the doctor who is in front of her.

"Do not worry, I did not see where I was going to see these studies." Stephen shows him the folder.

"D... Doctor Stephen Vincent Strange." Ana looks at him surprised and flushed.

"Yes, it's me." Stephen responds smiling. "You... are not you Ana Stark?"

"Yes." She responds nervously. "It's me."

"We met years ago, I operated a friend of yours."

"Yes, to a friend of the family, Harold Hogan."

Ana never forgot that day, when she was eleven years old. Happy suffered a terrible accident in New York, the doctors did not give much hope, so they recommended Dr. Stephen Strange. As soon as she saw him she fell deeply in love with him, not only because of his attractiveness but also because of his interest in saving lives.

Unfortunately, Ana knew that he would never fall in love with a little girl, but after she investigated him and was surprised by the story and all the lives he saved, she was so surprised that she decided to study medicine because she also wanted to help people and also at some point to approach him, of course, if he was still single when she graduated from college, but if Stephen married, Ana is willing to give him up.

"But what are you doing here? No offense, but you live in New York". Ana looks at him surprised and confused.

"I came to a congress of neurosurgeons and a colleague asked for help in a complicated surgery and I accepted."

"Wow, and... How many days will you stay?" Ana asks interested while saying that many days have passed.

"I'm going back to New York tonight, I have patients waiting for me." Stephen responds.

"Oh." Ana looks at him disappointed. "Well, I understand... but... Could you help me with something?" she asks quickly, smiling.

"Sure, on what?" Stephen asks interested.

"My sister had an accident six days ago."

"Yeah, I heard the news... I'm very sorry for what you're going through." Stephen grabs her by the shoulder.

"Thank you, my sister has been unconscious for six days and the doctors have reviewed her today and... I want to have your opinion about my sister condition." Ana smiles looking at him. "Please."

Stephen raises an eyebrow and Ana smiles at him, seeing him in the eyes. He sighs smiling and nods.

* * *

"Do you really think that organization kidnapped Tony?" Pepper asks scared.

"Without a doubt, Pepper, we found the logo in the area where the attack occurred... Ten rings kidnapped him." Rhodey informs him by phone.

"My God, Rhodey, you must save Stark... everyone knows what they are capable of, they will force him to create weapons... and then they will kill him." Pepper scared.

"That's not going to happen Pepper, we'll find him." Rhodey says. "But yes, you must avoid that the girls find out, we can not worry more than they already are, especially Zaira due to her condition."

"I will not do it, I do not want to scare them." Pepper parks her car in front of the hospital. "Rhodey, they already suffer too much because of their mother's absence, we can not allow them to lose their father."

"Do not remind me, do not worry... I'll find Tony at all costs."

* * *

"Then you asked them to leave all your sister medical exams since they brought her here." Stephen asks while reviewing the results.

"Yes, then I see how my sister evolved in her recovery, but she still does not wake up and that is not in a coma." Ana answers in front of him.

"That's a good sign ... Wow!" He is surprised to read the first results. "Your sister suffered a head injury, internal injuries, she lost a lot of blood and her lung was punctured… God, your sister was very lucky".

"I know, the doctors did not give much hope and they were surprised that she survived the operation and that now she is only with the injured arm and leg... even a little of the neck."

"Her brain did not ignite in the accident, that's also a good sign" Stephen continues reading.

"Her brain did not get inflamed, but she suffered a severe blow to the head, also in the thorax, but she survived miraculously since almost nobody survives that."

"And only 2% survive without permanent damage." Stephen looks at her. "You know a lot about medicine, right?"

"Well ... I have read medical books since I was a child." Ana smiles blushing.

"Really?" Stephen looks at her surprised.

"Yes, I plan to be a pediatrician, cardiologist and neurosurgeon."

"Wow... it will take years to specialize in that." Stephen folded his arms.

"It will not be a problem, I have read all the medical books in the world." Ana smiles with pride.

"Really?" Stephen smiles interested. "Did you read Goodman & Gilman's book: The Pharmacological Bases of Therapeutics?"

"Yes, it was written by Alfred Gilman and Louis S. Goodman in 1941."

"Did you read Anticancer's book: A new way of life?"

"Yes."

"Internal Medicine of 1996?"

"Yeah."

"Organon der rationellen Heilkunde, The 100 major diagnoses in the abdomen, Emergency Pocket Medicine, Emergency Medicine and Protocols of Action and Diagnosis, Treatise on Medical Physiology, Principles of Neurology, The Human Brain: Workbook?" Stephen asks quickly.

"Yes, I have also read Orthopedic Neurology, Pediatric Neurology, Merritt Neurology, Cardiology Treatise, Hurst's the Heart, Hot Zone and many more... even the Merck Manual book." Ana smiles

"But ... the Merck Manual was published in 1899, did you really read that book?" Stephen looks at her surprised and Ana nods. "You impress me." smiling.

Ana blushes and is excited to know that surprised the love of her life, which managed to surprise him even though she has not yet entered the University.

"You... you have no idea... how many medical books she have read." A voice similar to Ana is heard.

They both turn around and are surprised to see that Zaira sees them weakly.

"She has read... everything ... the medical books ... of the world." Zaira says weakly.

"Zaira!" Ana approaches excited. "You woke up, thank God." releasing tears.

"Miss Zaira, how do you feel?" Stephen begins to check her.

"As if... I had been hit by a train"

"Well... it was not exactly how it happened, but if something hit you." Stephen check her. " I'll call your doctor, I'll be right back." leaving the room

"How do you feel?" Ana asks worried.

"It hurt." Zaira responds very painful.

"Where?"

"The hair."

"Does your hair hurt?!" Ana asks surprised.

"No, hair is the only thing that does not hurt." She smiles amused but then complains of pain. "Ana ... What happened? Where are we?" Looking around but complains when moving his neck.

"In the hospital... six days ago you had an accident."

"An accident? ... yes... yes, I remember it." Zaira starts crying. "Ana... and dad ... where is ..."

"Ana". Pepper enters the room but stops to see Zaira. "Oh my God, Zaira!" approaching quickly "You woke up, my little one".

* * *

Inside a room in a dark and miserable cave, a man was preparing a small meal by the fire, whistling a cheerful melody while Tony was sitting on his bed, touching what was in his chest, had a magnet that was connected to a car battery.

"What the hell'd you to to me?" Tony asked weakly.

The man chuckled at the question.

"What I do? What I do was save your life." he looked at Tony. "I removed all the shrapnel I could, but there's a lot left in there. And it's headed into your atrial septum. Here, wanna see? I have a souvenir. Take a look." Showed Tony a glass bottle with tiny, sharp metal shards in it. "I have seen many injuries like that in my village, we call them the walking dead. Because it takes about a week for the balls to reach the vital organs."

"What is this?" Tony asked.

"That is an electromagnet, hooked up to a car battery." the man replied. "And it's keeping the shrapnel from reaching your heart."

Tony shifted uncomfortably and stared down at his chest. He buttoned up his shirt and eyed a camera nervously.

"That's right." the man said, following Tony's gaze. "Smile, we met once before, you know... At the technical conference in Bern."

"I don't remember."

"You wouldn't." The man smiled. "If I had been that drunk, I would not have been able to stand, much less give a lecture on integrated circuits."

"Where are we?"

Suddenly something opened with a loud clash. The man and Tony tensed. Someone at the door yelled something in a different language.

"Come on, stand up." the man hissed, pulling Tony. "Stand up! Do as I do."

Tony seemed flustered as the man dragged him to his feet.

"Come on! Hands up!" The man ordered.

Metal doors creaked open, revealing a man and two armed soldiers. More armed soldiers with guns approached from the back.

"Those are my guns," Tony said, eyes widening. "How did they get my guns?"

A plump man in a coat raised his arms and said something in a different language.

He walked up to to Tony and the shaving man, still speaking. Soldiers followed him, hands on their guns. As the man finished his sentence, only one word could be understood. 'Stark'. The man looked Tony in the eye and continued speaking in a way one would speak a speech, or perhaps a lecture. His tone wasn't threatening, but not friendly either.

"He says welcome Tony Stark," the shaving man said, hands on his head. "The most famous mass murderer in the history of America, he is honored."

The man gestured to Tony with a white scroll in his hand. He was smiling as he spoke.

"He wants you to build a missile, the Jericho missile... That you demonstrated."

The man handed the shaving man the scroll he had been holding.

"This one." The shaving man unraveled the scrap of paper the man had given him and showed it to Tony.

Sure enough, it was the Jericho missile that Tony had demonstrated earlier at the Base.

Tony stared at it, hands still on his head. The man raised his eyebrows expectantly. Tony frowned.

"I refuse."

The man stared at him.

* * *

The doctor checks Zaira before the eyes of Ana, Pepper, Happy Obadiah and Doctor Strange, after a few days, they will finally be able to verify if there is any consequence of the accident.

"How is she?" Obadiah asks.

"As Dr. Strange said, Miss Zaira is fine, although we will have to do some studies to rule out brain damage." The doctor announces.

"What I want is to go home." Zaira complains.

"No, Zaira, you had a terrible accident, so you have to stay here, at least a month." The doctor says.

"A MONTH?!" Zaira exclaims annoyed. "Of course not! Pep!"

"Pay attention to the doctor, at least I hope you have learned that you must drive carefully." Pepper looks at her seriously and Zaira rolls her eyes.

"Gentlemen, Lady, could you come with me?" The doctor leaves the room followed by Pepper, Happy and Obadiah.

"Do not get angry, Zaira, the worst is over." Ana smiles

"Being here, I do not believe it." Zaira upset

"Miss Ana". Stephen approaches her. "It's getting dark and my plane leaves in five hours."

"Oh no, I'm sorry for ..."

"Don't worry, I'm glad everything went well, besides... helping a multi-million dollar family like the Starks is not very common." Stephen smiles causing Ana to blush. "By the way, I brought this for you." handing her a book "It's my book, they'll publish it next month, but I want you to be the first to have it."

"The evolution of neurology". Ana reads the cover.

"Read the back cover before going to sleep." Stephen whispers and kisses her hand. "I hope to see her become an excellent doctor." smiling. "Miss Zaira." He approaches her and kisses her hand. "I hope you recovers."

"I hope so ... to get out of here." Zaira says desperate.

Stephen smiles and leaves the room leaving the twins alone.

"It can not be, Stephen Strange was flirting with me." Ana looks excited at Zaira.

"Ana, you are very beautiful." Zaira smiles.

"Thank you, but ... I think he wants to conquer me without taking my age into account, of course, since in a few years I will be an adult." excited.

"Ana… he just tried to be nice." Zaira said and Ana saddens"Forgive me Ana... I do not want you to be hurt."

"Yes I know." Ana sits next to her sister. "I'm just a little girl for him."

"It's been a few years for both of us to be adults, but... get ready because I doubt that Doctor Strange will marry one day." Zaira warns her and Ana nods.

"I hope he remains single when I finish my doctorate." Ana smiles a little. "By the way, I told our uncles that you woke up, they want you to call them, they're very worried."

"I can imagine." Zaira look at the ceiling. "Hey ... Dad was kidnapped, right?" scared.

"Yes, how do you know?"

"I heard it on the radio, when I had the accident... any clues about him?"

"Nothing, and they have not wanted to tell me anything... the police, the FBI, the journalists have come." Ana sighs. "The hospital is being monitored to protect us from a possible attack."

"Please, if a group of soldiers did not manage to protect dad, I doubt the FBI or whoever protects us." Zaira upset.

"To think that... if I had gone to that place with my father, they would also have kidnapped me." scared.

"Zaira."

"Mom left us when we were... two years old, Ana, do you remember anything about her?"

"Not much." Ana sighs. "I remember that she was... very beautiful, cheerful and tender." Smiles. "But something was hidden ... when I see the window of Dad's room or the living room ... I see Mom looking at the sky, fearing something."

"Cheerful? Tender? Do you remember the woman who abandoned us?" Zaira annoying.

"I know you're upset with her... me too, but something tells me something happened to her."

"I doubt it, she just left." Zaira looks at the window. "I hope Dad does not abandon us." worried

* * *

A month passed, although two days after the agreed day, Zaira left the hospital in a wheelchair. She had her arm bandaged and wore a collar, her punctured lung got stronger and recovered incredibly fast, she no longer needed the respirator and her leg recovered by lot and I do not need to use bandages or anything.

The doctors and nurses said goodbye to Ana, they loved her, even some patients she attended and who had been there for days begging him to stay, but Ana knew that her sister needed her now and that she needed Zaira. Everyone in the hospital understood what the twins were going through at that moment and they said goodbye by giving her flowers, chocolates and the children gave her drawings and letters. Ana sadly walks away from the hospital, she will definitely miss them.

"I finally got out of jail." Zaira smiles excitedly.

"Everything that bothers you seems like a prison." Ana looks at her funny. "I will miss this place, I learned things and they let me help patients ... of course, in small cases."

"Yes, I saw how you took advantage of our stay in the hospital, I in bed and you helping them ... you surprised me with everything you learned in those books." smile.

"Well, I already told you and I showed it to you, I'll be a great doctor and what you saw is just the beginning."

"I know you little sister, I know you and when you propose something, you struggle to achieve it".

Ana smiles while her sister does not lie, both stop to see Pepper and Happy standing by the car smiling at them.

"Nice to see you both, out of that prison." Zaira smiles.

"I'm glad to see you out of that place, I could not stand to see you there." Pepper smiles.

"We have to take them home, Zaira must rest." Happy takes Zaira to the car.

"Can we go for a hamburger?" Zaira asks quickly.

"Of course, we also buy for myself." Happy smile

"Any news from him?" Ana asks

"Nothing yet, but do not lose hope." Pepper smiles. "I will move to the mansion to take care of both of you, I will not leave you alone, neither you nor Zaira."

"Thanks Pep, we would not know what to do without you or Happy". Ana smiles

Pepper hugs her tenderly and Ana hugs her tightly.


	5. Chapter 5

Ana crosses another day on the calendar, unfortunately, three months and two days have passed since her father disappeared and they still can not find him.

The news has already begun to kill Tony Stark, they have already received too many condolences for the fact that Ana and her sister were already fed up. They were still hopeful that their father would return.

She leaves her room and enters Zaira, finds her watching the movie of Saw II.

Fortunately, Zaira had already recovered, all the doctors were even surprised by her quick recovery, but she is still in medical rest for another month and then she can go back to her routine. But it was impossible to return at that moment.

"How can you see deaths so ... horrendous?" Ana asks, terrified when she sees a scene.

"How can you watch documentaries of cardiac surgery and other things?" Zaira asks without seeing her and Ana rolls her eyes. "What do you want?"

"I came to see you." Ana sits on the bed. "We need to talk."

"About what?"

"The doctors revealed something to me, I ... I asked them not to tell Pep or the adults." Ana looks at her. "Zaira, tell me the truth... you like drugs?"

"What?!" Zaira looks at her. "Where do you get that silly idea?"

"Then these results were wrong, because they did the same study three times." Ana gives him the results. "And all were positive".

Zaira snatches the results and reviews them.

"And do not try to deny it." Ana warns her.

"Yes ... I take drugs ... but ... that day was just an ecstasy." Zaira returns the results. "And it was only one."

"Is there another drug I should know you consume?"

"Only that."

"And this is not a drug?" Ana shows the pack of cigarettes.

"Where ...?" Zaira extremely furious.

"When I came to pack my things and things for you when you woke up, I found this in one of your drawers." Ana folded her arms. "Thank you that I did not tell anyone."

"Since when do you care ?!" Zaira snatches the pack of cigarettes.

"A lot, we care a lot about Zaira." Ana worried

 **"Your sister is right, we were all worried about you."**

"Even JARVIS cares about you." Ana grabs her hand. "We both swore we would not say anything about this to anyone, but you have to promise us that you will stop taking those... shit, they will kill you and I do not want to lose you."

"And I planned to do it." Zaira says.

"And besides, when dad comes back, he's going to... wait, what?" Ana looks at her surprised.

"I planned to throw away cigarettes and stop drugs."

"Ok ... I'm glad to hear that but ... why?"

"Ana". Zaira looks at her. "When I had the accident, I could see my life ... I was never ... the best sister, that ... Christine is right, we are never together, very rarely we are". She grabs her sister's hands. "And besides, I was hard with dad the last time I saw him, I want to change my way of being, NOT SO, but I'll change."

"Zaira ... I like how you are, not everything ... but you are my sister and I love you and that will never change". Ana smiles

Zaira smiles and hugs her tightly and Ana gives her back the hug.

"By the way... I lied to you, I'm not a virgin since last year." Zaira admits it.

"That... it was not necessary."

* * *

Ana and Zaira cleaned the laboratory and the cars with the help of the robots, nobody has used them for three months and with the dust the place seemed abandoned.

 _And there's a girl in this harbor town  
And she works layin' whiskey down  
They say "Brandy, fetch another round"  
She serves them whiskey and wine_

 _The sailors say "Brandy, you're a fine girl" (you're a fine girl)  
"What a good wife you would be" (such a fine girl)  
"Yeah your eyes could steal a sailor from the sea"  
(Dooda-dit-dooda), (dit-dooda-dit-dooda-dit)_

 _Brandy wears a braided chain  
Made of finest silver from the North of Spain  
A locket that bears the name  
Of a man that Brandy loves  
_

"Are you hungry?" Zaira asks.

"To tell you the truth... yes." Ana smiles "JARVIS, could you order a pizza, please?"

 **"As ordered Miss Starks, I ask for refreshments too?"**

"Coca Cola." Both respond at the same time.

"Well, Pep told us we will graduate in four months, what do you plan to do after that?" Zaira asks.

"Well, I'll send applications to the best medical universities." Ana smiles

"Do you have something in mind?"

"JARVIS and I searched universities since I decided." Ana responds quickly. "I will send applications to Harvard University, California, San Francisco, Washington, Yale, Kaolinska, Cambridge, Keio, Sou..."

"Ok, ok... I get it, you already have the list of colleges you want to go."

"Yes, in two days we have to go with the vocational adviser of the universities". Ana throws the garbage. "Now that we're going to graduate, we have to catch up with the third-year students."

"Easy peasy." Zaira smiles.

"Have you already thought about what university you are going to enter?" Ana raises her eyebrow.

"... No." Zaira swallows hard. "No, no ... no, I had never thought of that."

And she did not lie, Zaira never thought about the University even though some day she will be in charge of the Stark Industries, but for that she must go to the University before that. Because of misfortunes she always thought of parties and fun.

 **"Your father already made a list of the perfect universities for you, Ms. Zaira."** JARVIS turns on the computer.

"Why am I not surprised." Zaira approaches the computer.

 **"Your father has six colleges for you, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Yale University, Harvard, Princeton, Stanford and the California Institute of Technology."** Showing the images of the universities.

"I'm not surprised Dad chose M.I.T."

"Well, that's where dad studied." Ana smiles "Get ready, you'll be the third generation of Stark to graduate there."

"Of course, our grandfather also studied there... I think I will send applications there, also in Harvad and Yale ... of course I will investigate a little of those places first", Zaira begins to investigate.

"It's fine, but you have to keep in mind that the University is a big step, apart from the paperwork... Pep warned me." Ana begins to sweep.

"I hate the paperwork."

Zaira feels that her cell phone vibrates and checks to see who is calling and is surprised.

"What happens?" Ana approaches. "Who is Na...?"

"Nobody, nobody special." Zaira turns off her cell phone.

"GIRLS"

Both turn around and look at Pepper, quickly down the stairs.

"Wow, I'm surprised you ran with those shoes." Ana surprised.

"Where is the fire?" Zaira asks funny.

"They found him." Pepper smiles excitedly. "They finally found him." She explodes when she approaches them and hugs them.

"They... found him?" Zair asks surprised.

"They found him, did Rhodey and his group really find him?" Ana asks surprised and excited.

"Yes, Rhodey said they found him wondering around the desert. It was pure luck that they found him but they did! He said he'd call back once they had him checked out."

"How they found my dad wandering in the desert?" Ana asks confused.

"That does not matter, dad is safe." Zaira excited.

Suddenly, Ana's cell phone rang and she ran and answered without verifying who had called.

"Hello."

" _ **Hey my little wizard**_ _."_ answered his father's voice.

Tears began to fall on Ana's face. Zaira turns and sees her sister cry and approaches quickly.

"D... Dad." Ana stutters with enthusiasm.

"What?!" Zaira takes out the cell phone and puts it on the speaker. "Hello…. D…. Dad?" nervous

" _ **Hello my little rebel**_." Tony answers something weak.

Zaira covers her mouth trying not to hear her father cry, Ana smiles excited to finally hear the voice of Tony Stark.

" _ **Do not cry girls, it's okay, I'm fine"**_

"We know." Ana says

"It's just that ... we're very happy to know you're fine." Zaira smiles between tears.

" _ **Well, this will excite them even more, tomorrow I'll be home**_."

"Oh my God! Tomorrow!" Both say excited.

" _ **That's right, girls, is Pepper there? I need to make arrangements to see my daughters tomorrow**_." Tony ask.

"Of course here it is." Zaira went to deliver the phone, but Ana grabs it quickly.

"I love you dad." Ana smiles between tears.

" _ **And I love you, my little wizard.**_ " Tony smile.

* * *

After waiting for hours at the airport to land the plane, when the door opens, look at Tony Stark with his best friend Rhodey, both from the limousine begin to mourn to see their father finally, the suffering finally ended.

"Are you kidding with this?" Tony scoffed when he saw a pair of paramedics approaching. "Get rid of them."

Pepper broke into a smile when Tony approached

"Your eyes are red." Tony speculated. "Few tears for your long lost boss?"

Pepper wiped her eyes and smiled.

"More like tears of joy. I hate job hunting." Pepper joked.

Tony looked around and stood still when he saw his daughters standing next to Happy.

Ana could not resist anymore and runs to hug him while crying with happiness. Tony hugs her tightly, as if his life depended on it, he looks at Zaira, who smiles excitedly and runs to hug him tightly while crying. Tony hugs his daughters crying, he had missed them too much and he feared never to see them again and leave them as his parents had left him when they died.

"It's okay...everything's okay...I promise that I will be a good father, that I will never leave you alone." Tony whispers while he still hugs them.

"Just do not exaggerate." Zaira smiles.

Ana releases her father runs to hug her godfather tightly.

"Thank you so much Rhodey." Ana says grateful.

Rhodey hugs her and then kisses her on the forehead, Ana returns with her family and enters the limousine.

"Welcome back, sir."Happy smile.

Tony nodded his head as a response and slid into the car with Zaira help.

"Where to sir?" Happy asked.

"To the hospital…." Pepper began to say.

"No." Tony interrupted.

"No? Dad, you need to have a doctor look at you!" Ana looked at him in disbelief.

"Ana!" Tony snapped. "I've been held in captivity for three months and there's two things that I want right now. An American cheeseburger and…"

"That's enough out of you." Pepper interrupted.

"It's not what you were thinking...Pepper, call a press conference."

"Call for a press conference!?" Pepper exclaimed.

"Yeah."

"What on earth for!?" Zaira ask confused.

"Hogan, drive. Cheeseburger first." Tony ordered.

Happy nod and drive.

"Are we going to Burger King?" Zaira asks.

"Good idea."

Ana looks at Zaira with a shrug, her father was definitely going to do something.

* * *

After Tony bought five hamburgers for him and one for Zaira, the limousine stops in front of a modern building with a fighter plane in front, gray with the code: YF-22 printed on it. Obadia and the local employees cheered enthusiastically to see their boss.

"Look at this!" Obadiah exclaimed, rushing up to the car, with his arms opened wide.

"Wow ... everyone missed you dad." Zaira surprised looking out the window.

"Who would not miss me?"

Obadiah opened the car door and Tony and his daughters clambered out.

"Tony!" He said as he embraced the younger man. The crowd clapped even louder. "I thought you'd meet me at the hospital!"

"Yeah, well." Tony grumbled, turning to Happy.

"Look at you!" Obadiah brushed Tony's suit down slightly.

Tony turned to proceed up to the entrance of the building, people clapping on either side of the doors, all in suits. Pepper stood just to the side. Tony pulled out a burger wrapped in white paper.

"Oh, a burger, you had to have a burger," Obadiah said. "Did you get me one of those?" tried to take the burger.

"Uh, there's only one left." Tony excused. "I need it."

"And I bought one." Zaira funny following them.

"I bought it for you." Tony clarifies.

When they enter the reception where the press was waiting for the cameras. The twins are surprised to see that his father did not seem to notice the cameras, since he always makes a symbol with his hands.

Tony looks at his daughters and invites them to follow him, they nod without thinking and follow him, there was something different in her father.

"Ms. Potts," a voice said.

"Yes..." She replied, rather questioningly.

"May I speak with you?"

"I... I'm not part of the press conference, but it's about to begin right now." Pepper said, turning towards the podium.

"I'm not a reporter." Phil said. "I'm Agent Coulson with the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division."

"That's quite a mouthful." Pepper said, looking at a business card Phil handed her.

"I know, we've been working on it."

"You know, we have already contacted many organizations and we have managed to prevent them from approaching the girls, the DOD, the FBI, the CIA..."

"…we are a separate división." Phil interrupted. "With a more specific focus. We need to debrief Mr. Stark about the circumstances of his escape."

"I'll put something in the book, shall I?" Pepper offered, smiling.

"Thank you." Phil said, and they both turned to watch the press conference.

Obadiah was standing on the stand and looking for Tony with his eyes until he was sitting with his daughters in front of the press.

"Hey, would it be alright if everyone sat down? Why don't you just sit down." Tony said, gesturing to the floor and pulling out his burger. "That way you can see me and I can... a little less formal."

Everyone seems confused, but still everyone sits slowly, including Obadiah who sits next to the Starks.

"What's up with the lovin'?" Rhodey breathed as he crouched down to the floor, next to Pepper, who was already sitting.

"Don't look at me, I don't know what he's up to." Pepper whispered.

"Good to see you." Tony whispered to him.

"Good to see you too." Obadiah said back, and placed a hand on Tony's shoulder.

"I never got to say goodbye to my father...there's questions I would have asked him. Like how he felt about what his company did, if he was conflicted or had any doubts, or... how it felt to be a father. "Dad looked at his daughters when he said that. " Or maybe he was every inch of a man we all remember from the newsreels."

Pepper narrowed her eyes, obviously wondering what this was leading to.

"I saw young Americans killed by the very same weapons I created to protect them." Tony says sadly when he remembers when the soldiers tried to protect him.

Ana closes her eyes to hear that, always knew that creating weapons did not protect anything and that that trip was dangerous, Zaira looks at her father and slowly makes a movement to take her hand and he grabs her a little since he needed his daughters.

A reporter raises his hand a little with a pen.

"Hey, Ben."

"What happened over there?"

"I've had my eyes opened." Tony was now standing behind the stand, looking down at the reporters like a teacher would do schoolchildren. "I came to realize that I have more to offer this world than just by making things blow up. Which is why...effective immediately...I'm shutting down the weapons manufacturing of Stark Industries."

In an instant, every reporter was in their feet, shouting and crying out questions. Pepper's jaw dropped open, the girls get up in surprise and Obadiah quickly grabbed Tony by the shoulder, but the billionaire continued, though he was drowned out by the crowd.

Tony takes the hand of Ana and Obadiah takes the hand of Zaira and leaves the site.

"Happy." Tony approaches him.

"Yes sir?"

"Take my daughters home and then come back, I have to take care of something."

* * *

Tony takes hours to return home and the first thing Pepper and Tony did when they arrive is talk about the future of the company and the girls. The girls could hear the discussion thanks to JARVIS, who from Zaira's television could see and hear the discussion.

"I do not know about you... but this seems like a matrimonial argument." Zaira fun.

Ana saw the discussion but did not pay attention, she was very confused by her father's decision not to create more weapons. Stark Industries is an arms technology company founded by her grandfather Howard Stark and now that her father closed it now feared the future of the industry.

"Well... now let's wait until dad does not find out about my accident."

"He's going to find out." Ana looks at her sister.

"No, Happy, Rhodey, our Uncles and Obadiah swore to me that they would not tell him... with the condition that I go to the University." Zaira drinks a glass of water.

 **"Did you ask Miss Potts not to tell him?"**

Zaira spits water and coughs trying to breathe again.

"I think not." Ana smiles.

 _"Tony ... I know you suffered and I don´t want to imagine it, here we also suffer ..._ _when ... you were kidnapped_ _... Ana has been very scared and Zaira ... she ..._ "

" _ **No Pep, no."**_ Zaira thinks scared.

" _She what?"_ Dad clenched his teeth.

 _"Tony ... Zaira had a car accident three months ago."_

" _Zaira what?!"_ Tony looks at her scared.

" _ **Oh no."**_ Zaira closes her eyes.

" _Tony ... when we find out what happened to you, Zaira hit her car, she was seriously injured ... the doctors did not give us much hope, she suffered a serious head injury, multiple blows and the steering wheel brutally hit the thorax_ "Pepper explains.

" _But ... is she really ok?, Did nothing happen to her?, What happened to the other driver?"_ Tony asks desperate and worried.

" _I can not explain it, the doctors did not explain it either ... but she survived without any permanent damage ... as for the other car, there was a witness who saw it, he fled and the police still can not find him_."

"What?" The twins ask surprised.

" _What do you mean, the other driver fled?_ " Tony asks furious. " _By his fault, my daughter may have died_!"

 _"We know, they're still looking for him."_

"That happened?" Zaira asks Ana.

"I never knew it."

" _What happened to Ana_?"

" _Don't worry, Ana was here when the accident happened, while Zaira was recovering, Ana was by her side looking after her ... I never told her this,_ _and I made sure that no organization approached them_. _"_ Pepper says

" _Knowing them ... they will discover it sooner or later, they will always discover it._ "

"JARVIS, my father and Pep do not know we already know" Zaira orders while turning off the television.

 **"I think they should know."**

"I know, but something does not stop me in my accident, so do not say it until I find out."

 **"As you wish."**

"What are you thinking, Zaira?" Ana asks worried. "Did you remember anything about the accident?"

"No, I did not see the car that hit me... I do not know ... but something tells me that what happened to me ... it was not an accident". Zaira confused.

* * *

Zaira was in the living room writing her application for college while listening to television.

"Let me show you the new, Stark Industries business plan!" The man continued, yelling. He grabbed a baseball bat and swung into a mug, shattering it. Zaira winced. "Look, that's a weapons company that doesn't make weapons!"

Sound effects of machine guns shot into the air.

"Moron." she whispers.

" _Zaira_!" Tony's voice cut through the sound, and Zaira jumped, switching on her phone. " _How big are your hands?_ " He asked.

"What!?" She exclaimed.

" _How big are your hands?_ " Tony repeated through the phone.

"I…I don't understand Dad...why?"

"Just get down here, I need you."

Zaira stood up and the scene changed to down in the lab door entrance, where she absently tapped a key code into a holographic keypad. The door slid open.

"Hey." Tony was lying in a kind of dentist's chair, shirtless and next to him this a heart rate monitor was constantly ringing. "Let's see 'em. Show me your hands."

Zaira waggled her own fingers in the air, walking towards Tony slightly uneasily.

"Oh, wow, very small. Very petite indeed, like your mother." He shifted a glowing device in his hand. "I just need your help for a sec."

"Oh my God, what is it?" Zaira looks surprised at a device that shines on her father's chest.

"Well… when they kidnapped me, one of my weapons exploded near me ... several pieces of shrapnel lodged in my chest and this ... prevents them from getting close to my heart. I call it the Arc Reactor."

"You mean ... is that what keeps you alive?" Zaira stared at it with a sort of frightened curiosity.

"It was, now it is an antique." Tony said. "This." he held up the brighter, bluer Arc Reactor in his hand. "Is what will be keeping me alive for the foreseeable future. I was swapping it for an upgraded unit and I just ran into a little... speed bump."

"Speed bump, whadaya mean?" Zaira asked uneasily. "What's happening?"

"Its nothing, just a little snag. There's an exposed wire under this device and is contacting a socket wall and is causing a little bit of a short circuit."

As he spoke, Tony carefully pulled out the Arc Reactor from his chest, grimacing. There was now a gaping hole in his chest. He handed it to Zaira, who plucked it from his fingers cautiously.

"Wha…what do you want me to do?" Zaira asked, holding it gingerly.

"Just put it on that table over there, that's irrelevant."

"Oh, my God..." She muttered.

"I just want you to reach in, and you're gonna gently lift the wire out." Tony exhaled deeply.

"I say ... better Ana helps you change the Reactor". Zaira recoils scared.

"That I what?" Ana enters the laboratory.

"Ana, thank God... help please". Zaira desperate.

"In what? ... Oh God, Dad!" Ana approaches quickly. "It's... what Pep told me that keeps you alive."

"Pep told you about this?" Zaira asks annoyed.

"It was, now this will keep me alive ... I just need to change it for the better".

"Do not you want it better if we take you to the hospital to get those pieces of shrapnel?" Ana asks scared.

"No, Ana, I'm fine ... this will keep your father alive ... I do not think the one I did in that cave lasts longer ... can you help me?"

"Can you…?" Zaira look Ana.

"Yes." Ana approaches and looks at her father's chest."

"I just want you to reach in, and you're gonna gently lift the wire out." Tony repeat

"Is it safe?" Zaira was clearly terrified.

"Um, yeah, it should be fine." Tony said.

"It's like Operation, you just do not have to let it touch the wall of the socket. "Ana said

"What's Operation? Whadaya mean, Operation?" Zaira was getting a little agitated.

"It's just a game, never mind. Just gently lift the wire." Tony said.

"Okay."

"Okay? Great."

Ana began to reach down into the chest cavity, but then pulled back quickly.

"You know, I don't think I'm qualified to do this." Ana says scared.

"No, no." Zaira shook her head. "You're fine. You are the most capable, qualified, trustworthy person I've ever met…. Besides, everyone here, you know about this."

Ana sighs and nods.

"You're gonna do great." Tony assured her.. "Is it really too much to ask, because I really need your help here."

"Okay, okay." Ana reached forward and let out a shaky breath.

Her hand dived in. An ugly squelching noise began.

"Oh, oh, there's pus!" Zaira whined.

"…It's not pus. It's a plasmic discharge, it's from the device, not from his body." Ana said.

"It smells," Zaira breathed, cringing. Her face was wrinkled with disgust, and Tony was breathing heavily, probably in pain.

"Yeah it does." Tony agreed. "The copper wire. The copper wire, you got it?"

"I…I got it," Ana said

Zaira looked like she wanted to cry for what she saw.

Ana continues pulling the cable without worrying about the smell, she just wanted to save her father. Although she would have liked to be warned in advance to wear gloves and a mask for this.

"You got it? Now don't let it touch theAHHH!"

A loud buzzing noise sounded, an electric shock, and Tony's entire body convulsed with pain. Zaira jumped and took a deep breath.

"Sides, that's what I was trying to tell you before..." Tony grimaced and grunted.

"Ok." Her hand appeared back from the hole, tugging a copper wire, just as Tony said.

"Okay, now make sure that when you pull it out, you don't pull out the magnet at the end of it." Tony said.

All of a sudden there was a horrible wrenching noise, and a small round, donut object appeared at the end of the wire. The beeping heart monitor went crazy.

"That was it." Tony groaned. "That you just pulled out."

"Oh God."

"I was not expecting that," Tony muttered under his breath, closing his eyes for a moment.

"Put it back." Zaira says quickly.

"DON'T put it back in!" Tony exclaimed as his eyes shot open again.

"What's wrong!?" Zaira gasped as Ana threw the magnet to the side, as Tony hissed with pain.

"He's having a cardiac arrest."

"What!?" Zaira gasped. "I thought you said this was safe?!" look at her father.

"We gotta hurry." Ana said

"Take this." He moaned with pain slightly, handing Ana the glowing blue Arc Reactor

"Okay," Ana said.

"Take this, you gotta switch, real quick."

"Okay." Ana grabbed the Arc Reactor and reached towards the cavity, before grabbing Tony's shoulder.

"Dad." Zaira said.

"What?" He slurred his words slightly and his breathing was labored.

"It's gonna be okay, Ana going to make this okay."

"Okay, Ana, you gotta touch that to the baseplate." Tony explained, though it was barely a whisper. "And make sure you…"

Ana gasped and there was a strange clicking noise and Tony cried out in pain.

"AAAARGGHOWWWWWWWW..." He took a deep breath as Ana secured the Arc Reactor. "Was that so hard?" He grinned weakly. "That was fun right? Nice..."

"Are you okay?" Ana panted, hands covered in some strange slime.

"Yeah, I feel great. Are you two okay?"

The twins just glared at him, and Tony broke into laughter.

"Dad don't ever." Zaira growled, but a smile was creeping onto her face. "Ever, ever, ask one of us to do anything like that ever again."

"At least tell me, for the next one, that I wear gloves and cover my mouth ... what I did could cause an infection because you did not ask me to wash myself before." Ana said

"I don't have anybody but you two." Tony smiled. "You did it perfectly, Ana."

Ana smiles

"Okay..." Tony sat up and pulled all the wires from his chest. He stood up as Ana shook the slime from her hands.

"What do you want me to with this?" Zaira held up the old, still glowing, Arc Reactor.

"That? Destroy it… Incinerate it."

"You don't wanna keep it?" Ana ask.

"Girls, I've been called many things, but nostalgic is not one of them."

Zaira gave a small nod.

"Will that be all, Dad?" Ana ask.

"That will be all, Doctor Ana." Tony smiled and he turned away. "Hey, Butterfingers, c'mere. What's all this... stuff, on my desk. That's my phone, that's a picture of me and my dad, right there, in the garbage."

Zaira and Ana walked away, leaving Tony behind, fondling the glowing Arc Reactor with a broad smile.

"Do you think the same as me?"

"Apart from wanting to erase what happened a while ago ... yes."


	6. Chapter 6

Ana was sitting in the living room looking for news on her laptop that they wrote about her father after the announcement that she no longer made weapons, some are backed by Tony's opinion, but others mock her.

"Hey, should not you be working on your application for your colleges?" Zaira sits down next to her.

"Since they talked to me about the graduation, I was in charge of doing it, but then I verify it in case I want to change something ... you know, I always dreamed of having the first surgery in a major hospital with him." Ana sighs, remembers Stephen Strange" … But I never imagined that my first surgery would be my father's and in my own home. "She trembles at the memory.

"Thanks! you ruined my job of forgetting." Zaira looks at her badly.

"Sorry."

"Hello girls, what are you doing?" Tony approaches his daughters.

"I'm working on my application for college, I want to have it ready for tomorrow since Ana and I have to make an appointment for our aptitude test." Zaira responds.

"Application for college?" Tony asks confused.

"Yeah... and let me tell you it's a pain, a lot of paperwork." Zaira folded her arms.

"But like I said, it's a big step." Ana smiles

"Shut up Ana." Zaira annoying.

"Come on, girls, relax, in a year you two will see all that to enter the university." Tony smiles calmly.

"Pep did not tell you?" Zaira asks confused.

"Tell me what?"

"The school board authorized that Zaira and I graduated before thanks to our photographic memory, so we will graduate in two months." Ana smiles

"Really?... that… What wonderful news!" Tony hugs them. "I can not believe that Miss Potts has not told me, I will talk seriously with her, I am so... so proud of my daughters."

The twins smile and hug him.

"And... do you two know what university you're going to enter?" Tony sit down.

"Well, I will send my application to M.I.R. if I am going to be in charge of Stark Industry, what better place to study than in the University where my father and grandfather were". Zaira smiles.

"Good choice Zaria". Tony smiles. "And you Ana?"

"Well." Ana pulls out a folder. "I'm going to send applications to ten universities."

"Ten universities?" Tony surprised grabs the folder. "Harvard, California, Southampton, San Francisco, Washington, Yale, Kaolinska, Cambridge, Keio and UCL".

"Yes."

"Wait a minute, here it says Request for Medicine Career ... do you plan to study that?" Tony looks at Ana.

"Yes, I want to become the best neurosurgeon, pediatrician and cardiologist."

"Wow ... a doctor in the Stark family." Tony looks at ana. "Yes ... it's about time we have one."

"And I'll be the best, you'll see." Ana smiles.

"I know, you two are the only thing I have in my life that I almost lose." Tony looks at his daughters. "That's why I want the three of us to do something."

The two seemed confused and surprised, their father had never asked them in their lives, apart from family trips, which were not so familiar.

* * *

"I can not believe it." Zaira Zaira looks surprised at the computer image of the armor that her father built and used to escape. "Seriously, I can not believe it. In this you defeated them and escaped?"

"Yes."

"It can not be ... it's a scrap!"

"What did you expect, Zaira?, That our Dad created something great in such a short time and in a cave?" Ana seems upset to her sister. "Zaira, he may have died."

"I know ... I just can not believe it."

"I know it's hard to believe, but that worked and it saved my life ... but..." Tony sighs and looks at the plans. "I wish I had taken someone with me."

The girls look at him, they know about her Dad's cellmate and, unfortunately, he did not survive, that hurts Tony a lot.

"Dad." Ana grabs his hand. "You did what you could".

"I wish I had done more." He get up. "That's why I want the three of us, four with JARVIS, to build an improved version of that."

"Wait for?" Zaira asks confused since she did not think she had heard correctly.

"Dad, do you want to rebuild that armor?" Ana asks seeing the image.

"Yes."

"Well ... because it would be a good idea". Zaira says quickly. "But ... why, I thought you would not build more weapons anymore."

"I know, but this would not be a weapon, since I would only use it and, if necessary, you too." Tony says looking at his daughters.

"You don't know what to answer." Zaira says.

"I don't know how to explain it." Tony answers.

"Dad, I understand that you want to ask Zaira to help you, but ... I'm going to be a doctor, I did not know how to help you." Ana says, although she lies a bit since she takes time with her Project.

"Ana". Tony approaches her. "I do not trust anyone else, only you two, I understand that this scares you and that's not your thing, but please ... help me."

Ana looks at her father for a moment and looks at him while he looks at her with sincerity, something strange in him, besides that she is wrong, even though she said it is not his thing she is good at building something like his project, but in this case his father needs it.

"I'll help you."

"Thank you." Tony smiles.

"Let's do it." Zarai smile."JARVIS, you up?"

 _ **"For you, your sister and Mr. Stark, always miss."**_ JARVIS replied.

"I want to enter a new project. Title is 'Mark I'."

Tony presses a button and on a large table a holographic projection appears of the huge voluminous metal suit, in the center of its chest was the shape of his arc reactor

"Seriously, I still can not believe that a lot of trash can create that." Zaira says crossing her arms.

" _ **Is this for the Stark Industries server?**_ " Jarvis asked him.

"No, I need you to create a private server that only for me and my daughters. "

 _ **"Working on a secret project, sir?"**_

"Yeah, we don't want this to fall into the wrong hands." Tony said seriously.

"No, we don't, and ... eliminate this too." Zaira removes some deserters from the armor.

* * *

The three schedules established as the graduation approached, at noon, Tony would be responsible for organizing the details of the armor and his daughters would review it in the afternoon and make some changes. Of course they did too many.

Zaira took it personally to create a more elegant and appropriate design by computer, Tony agreed with that design. Ana is in charge of creating a program to detect wounds, she hopes that it is not necessary, but she does not want to take risks, even though they are only looking at the robotic boots that she wants them to be ready for everything.

"I bring some ice." Ana approaches her father and sister with three glasses.

"Thank you Ana." Tony croaked, as he accepted the icepack.

Ana approaches and sees that her father wanted to try to open the boot, takes a tool, moves some parts and the boot opens automatically.

"Wow!" Zaira looks at her surprised.

"Thank you." Tony smiles.

"It's like a surgery." Ana smiles and goes to the computer.

* * *

"I don't think it's a good idea." Ana says scared.

"We have to prove it and I'm glad I'm not the one to prove it." Zaira says quickly and looks at the monitor. "Everything ready, dad."

"Ok" He said on the screen. "First test. Monitors are recording, for lack of a better option, I have Dummy on standby with the fire extinguisher."

"Is it really a good idea to ask Dummy to take care of that?" Ana asks nervously because she knows it's not a good idea to put Dummy whith the fire extinguisher.

"Dummy has never used an fire extinguisher, well ... not that I remember, so we can not be sure." Zaira says without seeing her. "Well dad, let's start slowly."

"Alright...let's start this nice and easy...how about at 10% thrust capacity to achieve lift off?" Tony said.

"I don't think so...I'd go for 1% and see how it goes from there." Ana says seriously.

"You worry too much, Ana...alright...3...2...1..."

At one point he was on the screen, the next there was a blue flash under his boots and he was thrown from the floor to the garage ceiling so fast that his daughters could barely see him.

"DAD!"Ana runs to help him.

"I'm glad it was not me." Zaira says nervous.

* * *

After that, they continued to work on the lawsuit and, after many days, they made too much progress but still did not want to do the flight tests.

"Dad, I'm going to need money and tomorrow I'll be home late, or rather, Ana and I will be late." Zaira says without seeing it.

"What?" Ana looks confused.

"Where will you two go tomorrow?" Tony turns to see her.

"Ana, we both need to buy the dress that we will use for the prom." Zaira folded her arms. "And it's in three days."

"It is true." Ana says surprised that she forgot it.

"Ok, that can be fixed." Tony extends money. "They already have a partner."

"Yes, the captain of the football team invited me days ago." Zaira responds while grabbing the money.

"And you Ana?" Tony looks at her.

Ana looks down, no one has invited her, as always the boys are far away from her and that has never mattered, but going to graduation alone is something she never imagined.

"Ana?" Tony looks worried.

"Surely someone will invite me tomorrow." Ana smiles trying not to worry him. "It would be better to continue, it seems that we will need a leveler to prevent the energy from escaping." watching the flight stabilizer.

"Yes, but do not worry I've already inserted it and it would be a good idea to try." Tony says while he puts it on.

"I do not think it's a good idea." Ana says scared.

"Ana, if inventions are never tested, they will know if they work or need adjustments." Tony says without seeing it.

"Dad is right." Zaira says as she approaches him. "Point to the other side, I don't want you to destroy the monitors."

Ana sighs worriedly as she turns around, as she did not want to see and watches Pepper enter with a large box wrapped in brown paper.

"Ana, this has just arrived." Pepper gives it to her.

"Thank you." Ana grabs it smiling.

"Obadiah is upstairs." Pepper informs Tony. "He needs to talk to you."

"Be right up." Tony promised.

"I thought you said you were done making weapons." Pepper looks at him confused.

"I am. This is a flight stabilizer." Tony told Pepper, pointing one arm out toward the far side of the room. "It is perfectly harmless."

Tony raised his arm and, without weighing it, activated the flight stabilizer that made him fly several feet backwards. Pepper and his daughters were frightened by the loud roar.

"DAD!" Ana and Zaira scream scared.

"I didn't expect that." Tony muttered.

After helping Tony, the four of them climbed the stairs to find Obadiah playing the piano and there was a pizza box on the table.

"Hi Uncle." Zaira takes a piece of pizza.

"Hello Ana." Obadiah greets without seeing her.

"I'm Zaira." She says a little offended.

"Hehehehe, I know, I love seeing how you wear when you get confused." Obadiah smiles funny.

"How'd it go?" Tony asked, already having a pretty good idea, when he noticed a Pizza Box on the table. "Oh. That bad huh?"

"Just because I brought back pizza from New York does not mean it went bad." Obadiah replied.

"Ha!" Tony said, opening the pizza box. "You told me to lay low."

"Well yeah, from the press, this was a Board of Directors Meeting."

"This was a Board of Directors Meeting?" Tony said in a shocked voice. Obadiah rolled his eyes, and Tony smirked reassuringly. "Look, just because the stock opened down 40 points..."

"56 and a half." Pepper said.

"I'm just saying, they don't like this new direction you're…"

"Tony." Obadiah interrupted. "They've filed an injunction against you. They say you're suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and they want control of the company."

"What?" Ana asks confused.

Tony was stunned and somehow not at all surprised in exactly the same moment.

"They can't do that." Zaira says annoying.

"Well they can." Obadiah said. "They're the Board, their opinions matter..."

"Well, we own the majority of the company anyway, so what can they do?" Tony asks without worrying.

"They want to take him out of his own company?!, That's ridiculous!" Zaira says annoying.

"Zaira." Ana mumbles trying to calm her down.

"Zaira, nothing!" Says without seeing it. "This company was founded by my grandfather, Howard Stark and who is now in charge of the company, his son Tony Stark, so he has more power than that ball of idiots son of..."

"Ok, ok, enough young lady." Tony interrupts her by grabbing her by the shoulder.

"Wow, hehehe, you are very rude, Zaira Stark is obvious that you inherited it from your mother". Obadia smiles funny and Zaira rolls her eyes.

"Tony, you've gotta let me give them something." Obadiah gestured at Tony's chest. "Why don't you let our engineers take a look at that, take it apart and see how it works."

Tony understood the reasoning easily. Give the board a show and tell it, make it seem less than an impulsive impulse from the king of the brats and let them obsess about cornering the energy market instead of the arms market. But the images of the hand grenades with arc propulsion were not attractive to say the least. Tony was not willing to confide this to anyone, if he had to deliver it he would only do it to his daughters and Pepper, the only people he trusted.

"Nope, for now this is with my daughters and me."

"Oh, yeah?"Obadiah says disappointed and picks up the pizza box. "Then this stays with me."

"And for Ana and for me." Zaira asks seeing him with abandoned puppy eyes.

Obadiah smiles a little and opens the box.

"Take one, you too Tony."

The three obediently grab the pieces of pizza and go down the stairs.

"What are you three working on down there?" Obadiah asks

"Goodnight, Obadiah." Tony says as he goes down the stairs followed by his daughters.

* * *

 **Brickell City Centre**

"Come on Ana, this is what we need after days with dad's project, the studies, the procedures for the University and to be able to relax after what Obadiah said last night." Zaira says as she enters the mall.

"If you say so." Ana says not very convinced while following her.

"Our dresses must be perfect, unique for the girls of the school to end up burning with envy." Zaira smiles excitedly as she looks at the stores. "God, since the accident I do not come to this temple."

"I know how much you like to go shopping." Ana smiles "Well, I'm hungry, so I'll go buy myself something to eat."

"Are you crazy? First to buy the dresses and then to eat."

"I can not think on an empty stomach."

"Come on Ana, you'll get fat to eat, so it's better to take advantage of our figure and then eat." Zaira grabs her by the arm and takes her to the stores.

Ana rolls her eyes and gives up when she comes to shopping with her sister, as she always has to do what Zaira says.

"Come, here they sell beautiful dresses." Zaira pulls her sister towards a store.

"You say that of all."

Zaira releases her and goes to see dresses and Ana goes to the other end to see some, in specially orange dresses.

"I think this would be perfect." Phil says he extends an orange dress with a square neckline that reaches to the knees.

"Wow" Ana grabs the dress. "It's perfect, Thanks".

"You're welcome, Miss Ana."

"How do you know my ..."

"Ana!" Zaira is fast approaching. "I found a beautiful dress and I need your opinion."

"You must be Zaira Stark?" Phil asks.

"Yes, and you are?"

"It is pleasure Miss Starks, I am the agent Phil Coulson of the The Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division. "Phil shook their hands

"Wow! You need to do something with that name." Zaira says surprised since she hardly remembers some parts.

"I know, we're still working on it."

"Wait a minute, I remember you, I saw you with Pep at dad's conference." Ana says surprised.

"Pep?" Phil asks confused.

"This is how we call our godmother, even if you know her as Pepper Potts." Zaira says.

"Of course." Phil says smiling. "I wanted to talk to you two, but I never had the chance, I waited for Ms. Zaira to leave the hospital, but Ms. Potts would not let me."

"She's a little ... overprotective." Zaira says folded her arms.

"I'd like to ask you some questions about your father." Phil says seriously. "We could go talk to another place, how about I invite you to eat?"

"Sure!" Ana says quickly while Zaira rolls her eyes.

* * *

"Delicious" says Ana while eating her hamburger.

"In the end you got what you wanted." Zaira says while eating her fries.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your plans, but you have to ask them some questions."

"What kind of questions?" Zaira asks a little interested.

"It's about the abduction of his father in Afghanistan, as well as his rescue." Phil looks at them seriously surprising the twins. "I know it's hard to remember those days, but I'd like to know what you remember before or after that day, if you got a call or saw something suspicious before your father traveled there."

"Well ... everything was as always." Zaira says recalling the days leading up to that event.

"Where were you when they kidnapped your father?"

"I went out with some friends". Zaira responds.

"And you Miss Ana Stark?"

"I stayed at home and ... and my father called me when that happened and I called Zaira ... but she ..." Ana begins to cry when she remembers what happened.

"I ... discovered what happened with the news on the radio." Zaira says grabbing her sister's shoulder. "My father called me but I ignored him, something I regret, I was terrified when I heard what happened and then the accident that took me to the hospital happened."

"Yes, we knew about the accident." Phil says seriously as he writes. "We also investigated your medical history and let me tell you that I'm surprised you survived and that you do not have any sequel or permanent damage. " ."

"In fact everyone is surprised." Ana says grabbing her sister's hand. "But the most important thing is that she's fine."

"I agree."

"Listen, we have not talked to anyone or the police because they were not allowed to approach us." Ana says something nervous.

"I'm not surprised, they also kept my people away from you two." Phil says.

"Hey, my father came back, he's home safe and sound and all he wants is to get his life back after what happened." Zaira says seriously.

"Zaira is right, I don't understand why you ask us these questions?" Ana says confused.

"You want something more." Zaira says seriously.

"Why do you ask that?" Phil asks confused.

"Because the army, the police and the FBI abandoned the issue of my father after his return, you are the only one who is very interested in that topic, besides … I read your organization in the data and books of my grandfather, Howard Stark, "says Zaira seriously.

"What?" Ana asks surprised and confused.

"Did you forget my talent with technology?" Zaira asks proudly that since childhood she always carved secrets of her father's company and information about her grandfather.

Phil looks at her very surprised but then smiles.

"You're identical to your mother." Phil says smiling surprising the twins.

"What?" Both ask surprised.

"Well, the two are identical." Phil says smiling. "How much do you know about us?" watching Zaira.

"Apart from that, they have to do something with the name ... it's a secret organization, not for me, founded by my grandfather, with Aunt Peggy and others to protect the country from dangers like ... H.Y.D.R.A."

"Grandpa and Aunt Peggy?" Ana asks more surprised.

"Well Miss. Zaira and Miss Ana, we are an extra-governmental military intelligence and counterterrorism agency in the United States, responsible for maintaining global security"

"Okay, I do not understand this, but it's okay ... but ... what does it have to do with my Dad disappearance?" Ana asks confused, more than she already was.

"We have nothing to do with his disappearance, we just want to tie loose ends about what happened, your father is one of the great minds of this country ... especially when he manufactured quantities of weapons." Phil answers.

"But he will not build more weapons anymore." Ana says quickly.

"That's clear to us, but have not you asked how they knew your father would be in Afghanistan?"

"Please, my father rarely went to show weapons to the army." Zaira responds.

"I think you did not understand my question well, Miss Zaira, what I would like to know is how they knew when and where exactly Mr. Stark was." Phil asks seriously.

Ana and Zaira look surprised that they have never thought about it, it is true that their father traveled there very rarely, but when he travels, his trip is always kept secret, as it is announced as soon as he returns and the location of the samples of weapons and military bases, it was impossible for them to know their location.

"Do you think ... someone revealed that information or that there was a spy?" Ana asks nervously.

"We are very sure of that, so much so that what happened to your sister was not an accident." Phil looks at Zaira.

"What?" Zaira asks confused.

"Was not it strange that you had an accident the day they kidnapped your father?"

"Now that I remember it ... I heard that the driver of the car that hit me fled." Zaira says surprised trying to understand.

"Are you trying to say that ... someone tried to kill my sister?" Ana asks scared.

"Not only her, just that fortunately you were not with her." Phil says.

"But our father escaped and is home ... and everything must be over." Zaira says nervous.

"I'm sorry to tell you this but ... this is far from over."

Ana trembles with fear at hearing that, her family is threatened and it was obvious that she is someone close, that is something she can not believe, Zaira hugs her trying to calm her down, she was also scared and more to confirm what happened to her was not an accident.

"We will protect you, a friend of mine swore to your mother that he would take care of you two and I will help him to fulfill that promise. "Phil grabs both hands to reassure them." But to end this, I need both of you to help me give details or know how your father escape or if there was someone else with him. "

Ana and Zaira look doubtful to answer but they sigh because what they want most is to finish this.

"He was locked in a cave with someone who helped him build a weapon that helped him escape, Ho Yinsen." Ana says

"But he didn't make it." Zaira says sadly.

"And you know what weapon it was?" Phil asks

"Unfortunately not." Both say at the same time.

"So that happened" Phil says he is not very convinced with the final response of the twins. "Thank you very much for your cooperation." he get up and take out a card. "If something suspicious happens or you feel threatened, call me."

"We will do it." Zaira grabs the card. "Thank you."

"No, thanks to you two." starting to move away.

"Wait!" Ana says and Phil turns to see her. "How do you know our mother?" confused

Zaira looks at him too confused but Phil smiles.

"Someday you will know." Phil turns around and leaves.

Ana and Zaira look at the card surprised by what they just learned and did not know how to assimilate it because it was difficult.

"We should not say anything to dad." Zaira says seriously.

"But Zaira, he deserves to know."

"With everything he lived in that cave is enough, when the time is right we will do it, since it is obvious that he would not believe us and more if it is someone close to us". Zaira explains as she puts the card in her purse.

"You believe it?" Ana asks surprised.

"Trust me, If I were him and someone told me ... I would not believe it. "


	7. Chapter 7

Zaira could not sleep after the interrogation that she and Ana had with Phil and that he would reveal things about her father's abduction and that her accident had been provoked, although that was something she still could not believe.

Someone has betrayed them, everyone who knew about her father's trip has known them for years, especially Tony knows them before their daughters were born, that did not make much sense, what did they gain by killing them?

Fortunately, Ana still does not suffer any attack, but Zaira knew that sooner or later someone would attack her and that for now it does not suit the attacker to do so after the security increase that occurred after what happened with Tony.

Zaira knew that she should not trust Phil too much because she barely knew him, but deep down she knew he was right, so she started making a mental list of possible suspects.

 **James Rupert "Rhodey" Rhodes** : he and Tony have known each other since they were children, they are almost like brothers and they also rescued him in Afghanistan, so it is impossible for him to be the traitor.

 **Virginia "Pepper" Potts** : She works as a personal assistant since before Tony was married, even after his wife disappeared she helped raise the girls and took care of them when he was kidnapped, so it is also impossible for her to be her.

 **Harold Joseph "Happy" Hogan** : Although he is a personal bodyguard and security chief of Stark Industries, he is also one of the closest friends of the family, since at the beginning of being just an employee over time, he and Tony became friends, so that it is impossible for him to betray.

 **Obadiah Stane** : He was a good friend of Howard Stark. After his death, Stane became acting interim director of Stark Industries until Tony Stark officially took office shortly after.

Zaira opens her eyes to remember that after the death of her grandfather, Stane took over the industry until her father took over. She always noticed sarcasm, anger and fake smiles in Stane, before she did not care, but now and more with that decision to get her father out of the industry, it was too strange.

Besides, Ana told him that Obadiah always wanted to get her out of the hospital and take her somewhere, but he was upset when she refused to go. Why would Obadiah get angry about that?

She also remembers he trying to see her, but Pepper was always present in all his visits, In that Zaira begins to have a vague memory of when she was in the hospital very exhausted and could hardly open her eyes to see Obadiah approach her and remove the pillow, but Happy and Ana entered the room and Obadiah quickly accommodated her in her head, giving the excuse that he made her feel comfortable.

Zaira covers her mouth surprised and scared, Obadiah had tried to suffocate her with the pillow, but if it were not for Ana and Happy who entered the room for sure at this moment she would be dead.

Obadiah is the traitor and who wants to kill her father, Ana and her to stay with the Stark Industry. Besides that he may be responsible for her mother's disappearance or worse, he killed her.

* * *

"Day eleven, test thirty-seven, configuration 2.0." Ana said to the camera.

"And for a lack of a better option Dummy is still on fire safety." Zaira glared at the robot.

"Don't hit me with that thing again or I'm donating you to a city college." Dad threatened.

Dummy made a noise and turns its, lowered his arm in apparent embarrassment.

"Do not be hard on Dummy". Ana looks at them badly.

"Okay, but dad please do not donate it to my college." Zaira says as she approaches the computer.

"Everything is ready" Ana writes the computer. "Please tell me we're going to take this seriously this time?"

"All this is seriously." Tony says without seeing her while Ana raises her eyebrow not very convinced. "All right, nice and easy... let's start it off at 1% thrust capacity."

"Yes, I think it's a good idea, we do not want to see you again crashing into the wall!" Zaira says annoying.

"Silence." Ana says seriously. "We will start with 1% without complaints or anything." Seeing the two who nod. "Ok, 1 ... 2 ... 3"

The three wait in advance when the engines start one more time. Unlike the first test and start with 1% makes a big difference, Tony starts to float a few feet above the ground.

"It works !" Ana and Zaira say excited.

Tony raised his hand more to lower his body, hit the power controls and hit the feet of the first floor, struggling to keep his balance. Dummy had wheeled significantly closer, aiming the extinguisher at him.

"Please! Don't follow me around with it either. I feel like I'm going to catch fire spontaneously." Tony said and Dummy obediently wheeled back.

"It seems that we are now really moving forward." Zaira says with enthusiasm.

"Yes, and now we are going to increase the level a little". Tony smiles and looks at Ana.

"Let's bring it up to 2.5%." Ana said.

Once again, Tony started to fly, but this time the takeoff was much smoother with the added power, the turns were cleaner, although not intentional. This time, he raised his knees higher, raised his hands to give him a lateral thrust. A little too much lateral thrust. The twins look excited as the work finally paid off.

Tony leaned on his ankle as if trying to find balance on a slope and suddenly found himself moving toward the wall. Tony pointed both hands forward, checking his forward motion, and suddenly, he was moving backward, frictionless in the repulsive wave. Tony craned his neck to see behind him. It was in the far corner of the garage.

"Dad reminds you control where you're going." Ana says worried.

"Yes I know." Tony says trying to control where he's going.

Left hand tilted down to keep him upright, right hand titled out to move him back to the centre of the room. Steering was not working, and he hovered his jets straight over the Hot Rod.

"No! Not the car! Not the car!" Tony forced himself to move away faster.

"Be careful with the cars!" Zaira screams terrified.

"Speaking of cars, later you and I will talk about your driving." Tony says as he concentrates on the third flight test.

Zaira swallows when she realizes that she has not yet been saved from that conversation. While Tony felt that he took a soft turn and moved instinctively. I have put your feet together, straightening and holding your hands. A vertical hover.

He lowered the thrust as smoothly as he could, came to a foot above the floor, and cut the power, almost spiked the landing.

Except for Dummy, inching forward again.

"Ah-Ah-Ah-Ah!" Tony barked, and the machine settled.

Ana and Zaira run to Tony and embrace him excitedly.

"We did it!" Zaira shouted excitedly.

"Yeah!" Ana said excited.

"And all this was thanks to you two." Tony smiles and then walks away a Little. "Yeah, I can fly… tonight we test this out."

"WHAT?!" Ana asks terrified.

* * *

As soon as nightfall came, Zaira types the computer and, suddenly, the robotic arms surround Tony with the new design of the armor. As soon as the helmet is placed, Zaira activates JARVIS, making sure that the systems are correctly activated and are good for the flight test and the suit.

"All ready, dad". Zaira says with enthusiasm.

"No, wait! I think we're getting ahead!" Ana says scared.

"JARVIS are you there?" Tony asks.

" **At your service sir.** " JARVIS replied.

"I keep saying it's a bad idea." Ana says worried.

"Ana, please, if Houdini's daughter had not let him act, where would he be?" Tony asks funny. Tony asks funny.

"Simple, alive." Zaira crossing her arms.

"Zaira that question was for Ana,... but you're right, bad example." Tony says. "Prepare suit down and check diagnostics."

" **Check.** "

''Engage heads up display. Import all preferences from home interface.''

'' **Will do, sir.** ''

The screen inside the helmet analysed the surrounding area.

"Calm down Ana, Jarvis will accompany dad everywhere, he will tell us if he is okay or if he has some nonsense that would not be anything new". Zaira says writing the computer.

"I heard that." Tony said.

"Anyway, Jarvis will help us communicate with you and we will see the monitors where you are going and in another one to you, since I want to see the funny faces he will be doing". Zaira says funny.

"Zaira Isabella Stark! After this you will be the next to take the test." Tony threatens her and Zaira swallows hard.

"I keep saying it's a bad idea." Ana says.

''All right, what do you say?'' Tony asks.

' **'I have indeed been uploaded, sir. We're online and ready.** ''

''Can we start the virtual walk-around?''

'' **Importing preferences and calibrating virtual environment.** ''

''Do a check on control surfaces.''

'' **As you wish** **…Test complete. Preparing to power down and begin diagnostics.** "

"Yeah, tell you what. Do a weather and ATC check. Start listening in on ground control."

"What?" Ana asks a little scared. "No! There are still terabytes of calculations needed before an actual flight is…"

''Ana. Sometimes you got to run before you can walk.'' Zaira said. "Ready in three, two one."

Tony blasts forward, shouting in joy as he shoots out of the exit ramp, a rush of speed and yellow light following him. The twins had to retreat by force with which his father left.

"OMG!" Ana says scared.

Zaira approaches the computer and listens to her father's laughter, in addition to seeing her face through a monitor and the other seeing what she saw. She saw him sweeping across the sky and Jarvis zooming in on the pier, locking onto two children who drop their ice cream in shock, watching him.

"Hahaha, poor kid." Zaira laughs funny.

Tony moves away from the amusement park and starts flying towards the moon.

"Dad, what are you doing?" Ask Ana.

" _JARVIS, what's the highest recorded altitude?_ " Tony asked.

" **The record for highest altitude flight is eighty two feet, sir.** "

"Oh no, is he doing what I think he's about to do?" Zaira asks.

"Dad don't even think about it!" Ana says.

 _"Girls the records are made to be broken! Come on!'_

"Dad stop right now!" Zaira says that to see that her father was still flying towards the moon.

"He's gonna freeze the suit if he don't stop!" Ana shouts worried.

" **Sir, there is a potentially fatal buildup of ice occurring.** "

 _"Keep going!"_

As Tony went higher the computer starts going crazy as all sorts of alarms start to sound, the connection to the armor begins to fail and disappear as it rises.

Oh no, we lose the signal!" Zaira keys the keyboard. "Dad you have to stop!"

"DAD!"

Both monitors turn black and appear as "No signal". The twins are terrified because they lost all contact with Tony.

" **I've just lost connection with Mr. Stark.** "

"I knew it was a bad idea." Ana starts crying.

"I knew my father was an idiot but I did not know how much!" Zaira says annoying.

"DAD!" Ana starts typing on the computer in search of a sign "JARVIS tries to reconnect with my father"

" **Right away, Miss Ana** "

"Zaira help me!"

Zaira approaches and tries desperately to restart the system.

Suddenly, the computer starts up again, the monitors show Tony's status and also as he heads towards the ground at high speed.

"Oh no, he will crash!" Ana says terrified.

"DAD!" Zaira cried.

A few meters before crashing, his communicator is back online and manages to save himself and get away from the city.

" _WOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!_ "

"Oh God" Ana sits in the chair trying to calm down

"Well, now we know we have to do something with that freezing problem, write that JARVIS." Zaira says.

" **Yes Miss Zaira.** "

"How can you be so calm Zaira if papa almost ..."

Ana does not finish speaking as there is a loud rumble through the roof to the garage, both turn and look at a big hole from the garage to the roof where dad had landed on the Lamborghini. Dummy approaches quickly and begins to spray him with the fire extinguisher.

"No!, the Lamborghini no!" Zaira says horrified and Ana looks at her badly. "Oh yes ... DAD!" Running towards him.

"Are you okay?" Ana asks worried.

"I'm fine." Tony gets up and removes the mask from the armor. "We have to solve the problem of freezing and landing."

"And the Lamborghini problem." Zaira says seeing what's left of the car. "That car did not deserve an ending like that"

"You almost died." Ana looks upset at Tony.

"Yes, but I survived and nothing the only thing we lost was the car." Tony says.

"And there's a hole in the house." Zaira says looking at it. "And …" Picking up something lying on the floor. "Please tell me you did not fall at the piano." Showing one of the pieces.

"... No, I did not fall to the piano". Tony says that while robotic hands take away his suit.

" **If it fell on the piano, sir.** "

"Thanks Jarvis." Tony mutters angrily.

"Take care of dad, I'll go see." Ana says walking up the stairs.

"Take this Dad". Zaira takes out an ice pack from the mini refrigerator. "Ana was right, you will need it."

"Thank you." Tony grabs an ice pack and wraps it around his arm. "After this, I need a coffee." He walks to his computer's work station in his workshop; but he stops when he notices the box that Pepper had brought down. "Is not that the package that Mrs. Potts brought and gave it to Ana?"

"Yes." Zaira grabs it. "But it's not hers, it's for you ... a gift from your daughters." giving it to her father.

Tony is surprised, grabs the package and unwraps it. It was a glass box, about a foot on each side, and inside, mounted prominently, was the Mark I Arc Reactor, glowing brightly, which it would for 50 lifetimes.

And etched around the circular outer frame, were the words " ** _Proof That Tony Stark Has A Heart_**."

Tony looks at Zaira and could not help but smile.

"Thank you."

"Do not thank me, Ana had the idea, it was better than mine."

"I do not want to know what your idea was". Tony says as he sits down.

* * *

After seeing the destroyed piano and informing her father, Ana went to her room to continue reading the book that Dr. Strange gave her. Despite everything that happened, she still could not stop thinking about him, his eyes, his smile, he was definitely the man of her life.

"Ana Valeria Strange or Ana Strange, they both sound good". she says smiling.

" **Miss. Stark, I'm sorry to get you out of your thoughts, but I just discovered that tomorrow there will be a documentary about Captain America.** "

"Great! Schedule it and let me know half an hour before, one hour if I'm out." Ana says excitedly.

" **Right away, by the way, your father wants to see you, he's in your work zone.** "

"I hope it's to apologize for the heart attack he almost gave me." Ana leaves the room.

* * *

Tony and Zaira looked at the Iron Man mask on the computer while reviewing the failures of the first test outside.

''Notes. Main transducer feels sluggish at +40 altitude. Hull pressurisation is problematic. I'm thinking icing is the probable factor.'' Tony says seriously when remembering his problem with ice.

'' **A very astute observation, sir. Perhaps, if you intend to visit other planets, we should improve the exosystems.** ''

"If my dad goes to other planets, poor people." Zaira says and Tony looks at her badly.

Tony looked at more Ironman's parts as they projected on his computer screens. He was moving slowly and was obviously in pain. Not that he would ever say so _._

"If you had listened to me, you would not have pain." Ana says approaching her family.

"I know Ana, but we will never advance if we do not try in the real world." Tony says without seeing it.

"I know, but do not exaggerate." Ana crosses her arms and sighs. "Have you seen the ice problem?"

"We're on that." Zaira says. ''Connect the sys. co. have it reconfigure the shell metals. Use the gold titanium alloy from the seraphim tactical satellite. That should ensure a fuselage integrity while maintaining power-to-weight ratio. Got it?''

 **"Yes, shall I render using proposed specifications?"**

"Thrill me." Tony shrugged, rolling around and glancing at the TV, looking at the report for once.

"Hey ... that's Uncle Obadiah?" Ana asks confused.

"What?!" Zaira turns quickly to watch televisión.

 ** _"Tonight's red-hot carpet is right here at the Disney Concert Hall, where Tony Stark's third annual benefit for the firefighter's family fund has become the place to be for L.A.'s high society."_**

"What the hell?!" Zaira asks surprised since she does not remember having heard about that event.

''JARVIS, we got an invite for that?'' Tony asks seriously.

'' **I have no record of an invitation, sir.'** '

This made Tony to frown and he and his daughters watch more closely while the woman continued.

 ** _"... He has not been seen in public since his strange and controversial press conference, some say he suffers from post-traumatic stress and has been bedridden for weeks."_**

"Is that a joke?" Zaira asks annoying.

"Sshhhh you will not let us hear." Ana says

 ** _"There have been very few sightings of his daughters, but many of us have been informed that they remain close to their father, especially Zaira, who is still recovering from that horrible accident that almost cost her life, in a nutshell , nobody expects to see the Stark family tonight. "_**

"What I'm still in recovery?" Zaira says with fury.

"Well, it would not hurt to continue to rest a little longer, you were barely in bed when you left the hospital!" Ana says angry.

'' **The render is complete.** '' JARVIS said regarding the Mark 3's colour. Which was completely gold.

"It looks weird". Ana says she is not very sure about the design.

''A little ostentatious, don't you think?'' Tony rejected.

'' **What was I thinking? You're usually so discreet.** ''

"Discreet?" The twins raise their eyebrows.

Tony looks over at one of his cars, smiling at the flame paint and then looked back at the suit.

" **Tell you what, throw a little hot-rod red in there.** "

" **Yes, that should help you keep a low profile…the render is complete.** " Jarvis offers, projecting a screen model.

"Wow, the suit looks better, do not you think?" Zaira says surprised.

"Yes, it looks better than the previous one." Ana smiles.

 _"_ I like it. Fabricate it, paint it." Tony said

" **Commencing automated assembly. Estimated completion time is five hours.** "

"Don't wait up for me, honey." Tony smirked, getting up.

"Where are you going?" Zaira asks.

"The three of us will go to the party, so get ready, you two have forty minutes."

"What?!" The twins ask surprised.

* * *

Almost one after having seen the news of Tony driving to the event, he could not believe that he and his family had not been invited to their own party and had it not been for the news they would have never heard.

"I can not believe you gave us less than an hour to prepare." Zaira says while she puts on makeup. "I could hardly choose an excellent dress and I did not wear the one I chose for the Prom." Seeing her green dress that reaches her knees, a black ribbon on her waist and a black high-heeled shoe.

"I will never understand why women need hours to prepare." Tony says without seeing them.

"Ask the women that you always flirt, we need time to see each other beautiful." Ana says as she finishes putting on makeup. "Good thing we did not need to fix our hair."

"With loose hair is fine, the problem is makeup." Zaira says finish shining in his eyes. "Ready, how do I look?"

"You look beautiful, how do I look?" Ask Ana.

"Let's see." Zaira looks and checks the sky blue dress that reaches the waist, her white high-heeled shoes, her diamond necklace and her makeup. "You look beautiful, Ana." smiling.

Ana smiles at her.

Tony landed his car in front of the red carpet, went out and threw his keys to the valet without looking, another valet helped Ana and Zaira get out of the car.

The camera shone and grew in intensity upon arrival, as expected of them. The Stark family knew that the party was inside. The real function of the red carpet was to show off for the press. All the A-List were here, but those who stayed outside were doing interviews and photos. Tony offers the arm to his daughters and the three go to the party.

"Weapons manufacturing is only one small part of what Stark Industries is all about, and our partnership with the fire and rescue community…"

Obadiah stops talking from the podium as news men turn, looking eagerly as Tony and his daughters walks up purposefully with a blank face.

 _"_ Hey, Tony, remember me?" The newswoman asked eagerly and Tony doesn't even look.

"Sure don't _."_ He responds, brushing right past her.

"I remember her, dad, you took her home." Zaira mutters angrily.

"What's the world coming to when a family got to crash their own party? _"_ Tony smirks, and Obadiah gives him a tight smile.

"Look at you. Hey, what a surprise." Obadiah said.

 _"_ I'll see you inside." Tony said.

 _"_ Hey. Listen, take it slow, all right? I think I got the board right where we want them." Obadiah said.

"You got it. Just cabin fever. We will only be a minute. _"_ Tony brushes off, walking inside a well lit place while waltzing to the bar.

The three enter the festivities and many look at them surprised as they did not expect them.

"Well girls, have fun, I'm going to drink something." Tony walks to the bar.

"I'm not surprised." Zaira says seriously but in that she looks at a child. "Ana, I think I found your dance partner.

"Very funny, I brought what I need." Ana takes a book out of her purse.

"How did you keep it?" Zaira asks surprised while Ana moves away a little to read.

* * *

"Give me a Scotch. I'm starving."

"Mr. Stark?"

"Yeah?" Tony turned around and found himself face to face with somebody he didn't recognize.

"Agent Coulson."

"Oh, yeah, yeah yeah. The guy from the…"

"Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division."

"God, you need a new name for that." Tony said surprised trying to remember.

"Yeah, I hear that a lot. Listen, I know this must be a trying time for you, but we need to debrief you. There's still a lot of unanswered questions, and time can be a factor with these things. How about the 24th at 7:00 p.m. at Stark Industries?"

Tony looks distracted as he catches sight of Pepper in a stunning long blue strapless dress.

"Tell you what, you got it. You're absolutely right. Well, I'm going to go to my assistant, and we'll make a date." Tony walks away from the bar.

Zaira notices that her father approaches the smiles of Pepper, realized how beautiful she looks and her father had also noticed.

"I wish dad could see how wonderful Pepper is." Zaira murmurs smiling.

"I didn't expect to see you here, Zaira." Obadiah smiled.

Zaira turns around quickly scared since she had not noticed Obadiah and her "pretty" smile.

"Obadiah, hi ... I ... I only accompany my father and Ana".

"Where is Ana?" Obadiah looks around and finds her with Happy talking. "I found her."

Zaira sighs in relief at seeing her with Happy, but she was nervous when she was close to him and more because of her suspicions.

"So how are things? Are you feeling better?"

"Oh, I'm completely fine, thank you very much." Zaira smiles a little.

"I'm glad, you survived by miracle and without any consequences of that accident." Obadiah smiles.

"Yes, but … I wonder about something."

"About what?" Obadiah asks confused.

"About… why did you try to kill me?" she crosses her arms.

Obadiah looks at her completely surprised that he almost loses his composure but manages to retrieve it and pretends to laugh as if she had told him a joke.

"Zaira, why do you say that nonsense?" Obadiah asked.

"Because it's very blurry, but I remember seeing you about to suffocate me with a pillow, but fortunately my sister and Happy went into the room ruining your plan." Zaira looks at him angrily while Obadiah looks at her in surprise. "Another thing, it's not very suspicious that the night they kidnapped my father I had an accident that almost killed me, it could have worked, but you did not count on Ana not being with me saving herself and it was not convenient for you to attack her because she was under surveillance and she was never alone. "She smiles. "Please, Obadiah, I made a list of suspects and, of all of them, you are the only one who would benefit the death of the Stark family, so you can run Stark Industries, right, uncle?"

Zaira continues smiling proudly, looked at Obadiah in the eyes, his smile had vanished and his expression was replaced by a sinister and murderous one that managed to scare her.

"If you're smarter than you thought, you're so dangerous." Obadiah grabs her by the arms. "You and your sister were always a problem, since your mother announced that she was pregnant, I tried to get her to abort but I never understood why nothing worked.." He says with hate.

"Did you try to kill us before we were born?" Zaira asks surprised and scared.

"Yes, but as I said, those damn herbs and medicines did not work, then I had the surprise that you were twins and a double headache!"

"Leave my sister, she just wants to be a doctor, she does not want to know anything about the Stark industries". Zaira says with fury.

"Yes, I was surprised to know what your sister wants, for a moment I thought about letting her live, but I can not risk her wanting to continue with Howard's legacy." Obadiah looks at Ana. "She's very lucky, there were opportunities that I could have killed her, but someone always ruined that, Ana is very lucky, but soon it will end because after killing you I'll go after her and then your father." Look at Zaira.

"I wont allow it!"

"We'll see, but you lost your time, since obviously nobody would suspect me, your father trusts me, who knows him since he was a child, admit Zaira ... no one would suspect me." Obadiah smiles with malice.

"Did you have anything to do with my mother's disappearance?" Zaira asks slowly with fear and hatred.

Obadiah only smiles and finally releases her and walks away. Zaira looks away and clenches her fists, since she could not believe that her suspicions were true and that, obviously, she and her family are still in danger.

"Miss Stark?" Phil approaches her by scaring her "Are you alright?"

"Phil, it's good to see you, I found the culprit in all this." Zaira says angry.

Phil's eyes open slightly in surprise at that, and he quickly puts a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Come with me." Phil takes Zaira to a distant part of the party but where they can to this in view of all. "Calm down Miss Stark."

"I'm sorry, I ... I can not believe it." Zaira says as she regains her composure.

"I understand, do you need a drink?"

"No, what I need is to stop Obadiah," says Zaira, upset.

"Mr. Stane?" Phil asks surprised.

"Yes, he was the one who tried to kill my father and me, but he did not count on Ana not being with me that night and told me that I also tried to kill her but never had a chance and had to stop because of the security that was in the hospital." Zaira breathes deep. "Besides ... I also confess that I try to have my mother abort."

"Stane has tried to kill you since before you were born." Phil says surprised.

"Yes ... by the way, what are you doing here?" Zaira asks confused.

"I came to talk to your father but he told me that he will ask his assistant to schedule me."

"Good luck." Zaira rolls her eyes.

"I know, but I'll go anyway, but I'll tell you something, Ms. Zaira, you're right to suspect him since he's been working with his grandfather since the beginning of Stark Industries and if the entire Stark family died he would be charge of everything. "

"That son of ..." Zaira says furiously. "Surely he murdered my mother."

"No, she is not dead." Phil smiles

"What?" Zaira looks at him surprised.

"Your mother is not dead, but do not worry that one day you'll know." Phil grabs her hand. "Listen Zaira, we need you to do what you can to warn your family, Stane is very powerful and more because he is a close friend of your father."

Zaira nods in agreement that he is right, although she knew that Tony would not believe it now that she had to do something to warn him and prevent Obadiah from hurting Ana.

* * *

"Two vodka martinis, extra dry, extra olives, extra fast." Tony sticks a bill into the tip jar.. "Make one of them dirty, will you?" He shouts after the man, before a familiar woman stalks up.

"Well, Tony Stark!" Christine said, as if amused to see him.

"Oh, hey. "

"Fancy seeing you here."

"Carrie."

"Christine."

"That's right." He smoothes out, and the girl grits her teeth.

"You have a lot of nerve showing up here tonight. Can I at least get a reaction from you?"

"Panic, I would say panic is my reaction."

"I was referring to your company's involvement in this latest atrocity"

"Hey, they just put my name on the invitations..." Tony said.

"Y'know, for just a second there, I actually almost bought it, hook line and sinker." Christine almost growled.

 _"_ I was out of town for a couple months, in case you didn't hear." Tony shrugged.

"Is this what you call accountability?" She growls and he turns to the bar again. "It's a town called Gulmira. Heard of it?" She asks, and Tony stiffens.

Tony grabs the photos and looks surprised at the images of people carrying shipments of weapons with their company logo.

"When were these taken?" He could almost convince himself it was months ago.

"Yesterday." Christine said

"I didn't approve any shipment." Tony told her honestly.

"Well, your company did."

"Well, I'm not my company." Tony returning the photos and walks away.

"What did you say to my father?" Ana approaches.

"Hello Zaira." Cristine turns to see her. "Oh you are Ana."

"What did you tell him he came out furious?" Ana asks annoying.

"This." Christine gives her the photos

Ana grabs them and looks horrified at the images.

"My God."

* * *

Tony's walking up to Obadiah whose talking to someone else before Tony pulls him away.

"Please, do you mind?" Obadiah said

"Have you seen these pictures?" Tony pressed him; horrified that Obadiah was being so calm. "What's going on in Gulmira?"

"Tony, Tony." Obadiah sighs before smiling for the press as Tony does the same, although it is strained.

"You can't afford to be this naïve."

"You know what? I was naïve before, when somebody said to me 'Here's a line, we don't cross it. This is how we do business.' If we're double-dealing under the table… Are we?"

Obadiah looked at Tony and apparently realized that the younger man wasn't going to be forced off this subject.

"Take a picture, come on. Picture time!" Obadiah lightly presses, giving a wide grin while Tony doesn't, and keeps a blank face on that masked his anger. "Tony. Who do you think locked you out? I was the one who filed the injunction against you. It was the only way I could protect you and your daughters." he murmured just loud enough for Tony to hear before waving to the cameras and walking towards a limo.


	8. Chapter 8

Tony furious opened the door of the mansion and went down to the garage, Zaira entered after he and Ana, who closed the door.

"I can not believe that Obadiah did that." Ana says worried about stopping after her sister.

"You have no idea what he is capable of doing." Zaira says furious without seeing her.

"What are you talking about?" Ana asks confused but at that moment her cell phone rings. "It's Uncle Joseph."

"Do not tell her anything, for now tell her everything is fine and then you call her." Zaira moves away.

"Will not you say hello?" Ana asks confused to see her sister walk away so she decides to answer. "Hi Uncle."

" _Hello my light of hope._ " Her uncle says in a kind and tender voice. " _We saw the news, okay?_ "

"Not everything, my uncle Obadiah ... God, I can not believe he's capable of that." Ana cleans the tears.

" _What did he do?_ "

* * *

Zaira enters her furious room, takes off her dress and then puts on her pajamas. She disconnects JARVIS from her room and takes a box out of her closet where she hides a pack of cigarettes, takes out one and prepares to smoke it, but leaves the flame a few millimeters away, screams furiously when she remembers the promise made by her sister and everything is thrown into the bathroom.

"I can not relapse, I can not." Zaira embraces scared and rings her cell phone and answers. "What?!"

" _Zaira, are you okay?_ " Joseph asks worried.

"Hi Uncle Joseph, I'm not fine and I do not want to talk now." Zaira is about to hang up.

" _Do not you dare hang me young girl, listen to me, you have me very worried and Ana has told me everything._ "

"Oh man, believe me, I do not know what to do, the weapons my father built are supposed to be to protect our country, but now it turns out that Obadiah delivers them to the enemy, that ... I can not believe that." Zaira says furiously and sighs trying to calm down. "I do not know what to do."

"I met many men like Obadiah, I met him when he started working with Howard, he never liked your father taking over the industry."

"Because of your age and because you met my grandparents, I believe you." Zaira grabs his forehead. "We have to stop Obadiah."

 _"You seem very worried and scared, what's wrong?"_ he asks worried.

"Zaira." Ana knocks on the door. "Zaira, I know you disconnected JARVIS, Dad wants to see us in the garage."

Zaira sighs in relief, she knew that if she told her uncles that she could put them in danger and that is what she least wanted, they could have distanced themselves, but she loves them and does not want anything bad to happen to them.

"Uncle, my dad calls me, I have to hang up."

 _"Ok, you know that if you or your sister needs something or they want to talk, just call us._ "

"I know, say hello to Aunt Peggy for me."

" _I will, now she is asleep._ " He smiles. " _Take care little, rest._ "

" _Bye_." Zaira hangs up and sighs. " _It's bett_ _er not to know_." leaving her room.

Ana and Zaira go down to the garage and look at Tony with a repulsor in the arm, playing with one of the locking mechanisms.

"Wow ... I did not imagine that five hours had passed." Ana says surprised.

"MarkIII looks good in red and gold." Zaira smiles.

"I know." Tony responds while watching television.

Ana and Zaira watch the TV and are surprised to see what it is about.

 _"The 15-mile hike to the outskirts of Gulmira can only be describes as a descent into hell, into a modern day Heart of Darkness."_ The woman reporter says that while many people walk behind her. _"Simple farmers and herders from peaceful villages have been driven from their homes, displaced from their lands by warlords emboldened by a new-found power."_ Pictures flicker across of people struggling with heavy baskets and the occasional animal.

"My God." Ana covers her mouth horrified.

"Turn off the TV,Dad." Zaira muttered.

 _"Villagers have been forced to take shelter in whatever crude dwellings they can find in the ruins of other villages, or here in the remnants of an old Soviet smelting plant. Recent violence has been attributed to a group of foreign fighters referred to by locals, as the Ten Rings."_

"Ten ring? It can not be." Zaira says scared.

"Do you know them?" Tony asks worried.

"Dad." Ana looks at him. "Everyone knows about them, they were one of the reasons why I did not want you to go on that trip."

"Yes, well ... I know them more, they were the ones who kidnapped me." Tony says with hate to remember those horrible days and the death of Yinsen.

"What?!" Zaira asks in horror as Ana covers her mouth. " ** _Obadiah contract terrorists to kill my father._** " She thinks furious and horrified.

The three returned to watch television, although what they saw hurt them, they wanted to know more about what was happening.

 _"As you can see, these men are heavily armed and on a mission. A mission that could prove fatal to anyone who stands in their way. With no political will or international pressure, there's very little hope for these refugees."_

Tony was walking now, the repulsor on one arm as he softly padded nearby the bar, before stopping.

 _"Around me, a woman begging for news on her husband, who was kidnapped by insurgents."_

Tony turns, facing the TV straight on now with a dark look in his eye.

 _"...either forced to join their militia…"_

A loud explosion when a repulsion explosion hits a nearby ceiling panel that fell in a shower of plaster dust in front of the TV. Ana and Zaira give a cry of horror and recoil as they look at Tony very angry and full of hate, both do not remember having seen him like this in their lives.

 _"Desperate refuses clutch yellowed photographs, holding them up to anyone who will stop. A child's simple question, 'where are my mother and father?' There's very little hope for these refugees, refugees who can only wonder who, if anyone, will help."_

Tony spins, teeth clenched as he blasts panels of glass blocking the access to his lab, face emotionless as he aims and fires, incinerating them to tiny grains of glass before aiming at the last one- more directly, his reflection.

"DAD ENOUGH!"Ana screams and Tony does not look at her. "None of this is your fault, it's Obadiah's, he betrayed us all."

"I know, that's why I'll go there, find all those weapons that I built and destroy them myself ... for good." Tony says decided.

"What?" Both ask surprised.

"I have to do it, what we just saw must end."

Ana and Zaira look at him surprised, but they agreed with him, what is happening in Gulmira has to end and those weapons must be destroyed.

"I know, you'll tell me it's crazy." Tony says turning around to see them.

"On the contrary, we agree". Zaira says approaching the monitor.

"You will need this." Ana gives him a black suit. "With this you will feel comfortable with the MarkIII."

Tony nods and goes to the bathroom to change, while the twins prepare everything for the mission to Gulmira.

"I can not believe you agree with this." Zaira says without seeing her.

"I'm not, but this has to end." Ana checks the suit. "It seems that MarkIII is ready, I just hope there are no problems."

Tony comes out with the suit that Ana gave him and he stops in the middle of the garage, where many robotic robots put the MarkIII suit in red with gold, the piece of the suit comes off to reveal his face and looks at his daughters.

"It's time to really try the suit." Zaira smiles.

"Be very careful Dad, if they discover you, they will not hesitate to kidnap you again or kill you." Ana says worried.

Tony gave them a warm smile before walking towards them and placing his metallic hands over their heads gently.

"I repeat it once again, I know I was not a good father and now I'm trying to remedy it, even if I take a lot of time for that." Tony smiles a little. "But I do this so that our family can start again, without weapons."

"Yes, the weapons ended for the Starks." Ana smiles.

"Or almost." Zaira begins the program. "With that speed you'll arrive 1 hour or 2 hour depending if there are no problems on the road." seeing him.

"As soon as I get back I want a glass of water and a sleeping pill." Tony walks away the moment he puts on the mask. "It's time to finish this." He takes off flying out of the garaje.

"Ok, I think I'll also take a pill, otherwise I do not sleep anything tonight." Zaira says as she sits down.

"We are already three." Ana sits next to her. "By the way, are you okay?" worried question

"I'll be fine as soon as all this is over." Zaira says without seeing her.

* * *

 **Gulmira**

Groups of men, women, and children run screaming for their lives as terrorists invade their village. In the distance, missiles can be seen flying into the mountains, the explosions shaking the ground and kicking up dust and dirt.

The villagers run with their hands above their heads in surrender as they're ushered out of their homes. One family is actually driven back inside by two men with guns, one of them kicking the door in and open firing into the house, effectively silencing their screams. An explosion rings from one house, smoke spewing out the entry way. People are shot, kicked, and shoved around the streets, even lined up to await either recruitment or execution.

Abu Bakaar; the man who had first approached Tony when he had woken up in the cave. He was shouting orders to his men, who carried suitcases in their vehicles and gathered families.

One family is pushed along as a whole, refusing to release one another. The father is hit especially hard in the back, sending them tumbling to the ground. When the leader sees the man, he shouts to his men.

 ** _"That one there! Grab that dog! Put him with the others."_** Abu Bakaar orders to see a man with his family.

The father was immediately ripped away, ready to be lined up for execution with the other men while his children and his wife screamed. One of his sons broke away from his mother's grip and started running for his father.

" ** _PAPA! PAPA!_** "

His father broke away from his captor's grip as well, rushing for his son and gripping him in a hug. He tries desperately to usher him away, back to the imagined safety of his mother's arms, but the boy is having none of it.

" _ **What the hell is this?!**_ " Abu Bakaar reaches for the boy, ripping him out of his father's arms and throwing him to one of his lower henchmen.

Abu Bakaar and another man hold the father back, throwing him to the ground where it's easier to beat him.

The man's wife, now reunited with her both her children, screams for him, almost certainly begging them to stop their brutal kicking of her husband. The children join in, too, the boy from before shouting out as tears roll down his cheeks.

Finally getting bored with it, the leader gives one final kick and gestures for his henchmen to get the father on his knees while he himself saunters away,

" _ **Shoot this dog! You're all incompetent.**_ "

" _ **PAPA!**_ _ **PAPA!**_ " the boy screaming.

Just before they pulled the trigger, there is a gust of wind when Tony comes down from the sky and lands on the hard ground with a 'metallic sound', a bent knee and hands back.

 _"Be very careful, dad, they have civilians as hostages._ " Ana says worried.

" _But with those bastards give them what they deserve._ " Zaira says.

Tony turns to face the shooter, winding up a punch in the action and slamming his metal-clad fist into the man's chest, sending him up and into a concrete wall with enough force to dent it.

There are more shots, but Tony is quick, and turns around to shoot a repulsor blast at the gunman, creating a body shaped hole in the wall in the process. He moves on to the next man, sending him back and away from harming the civilians.

He shoots another into their newfound stockpile of weaponry, sending the cases tumbling over. Tony turns to aim his repulsors at the next group of men, he's forced to stop short when he realizes they now have the civilians in their grasp, using them as human shields and aiming guns to their heads.

" _Miserable cowards, they are using them as shields."_ Zaira says furiously.

They scream in terror, but nonetheless, Tony lowers his arms, waggling his fingers to shut down the blasts that never came.

Inside the helmet, the HUD differentiates the civilians from the terrorists so no innocents will get injured. A compartment over each one of the armor's shoulders opens up, firing a quick succession of bullets into the enemy's faces, effectively saving the villagers.

" _ **PAPA!**_ " The young boy breaks from his mother's hold once again, and rushes back to his father.

They grab each other in a hug, the father muttering reassurances as his son gazes up at the metal figure in wonder.

Inside one of the half destroyed homes, Abu Bakaar peers out from the side of the wall, only to duck back behind it to frantically dial a number on a clunky old phone. He never gets to finish, though, as he's interrupted by a red-iron fist breaking through the concrete beside his head.

The hand grabs him, ripping him straight through the wall and tossing him onto the ground at the villagers' feet.

Tony starts up the repulsors again, rising a few feet into the air.

"He's all yours." he says to the small gathering of people, before shooting up into the sky, leaving the villagers to glare angrily at the terrorist before them.

 _"I do not think he lives."_ Ana says

 _"Okay Dad, I detect more weapons in a village not far._ " Zaira says.

"Yes, the HUD detected them too." Tony says.

Tony is just starting to head in the Jericho's direction when he's hit by a projectile and shot out of the sky.

* * *

"DAD!" Zaira screams.

"The source of the projectile is a tank." Ana says looking at the tank on the screen. "Calm down Zaira, the suit is supposed to withstand the impacts, although not from a long fall, like when dad wanted to go to the moon."

* * *

Tony emerges crater and stands up with a robotic buzz. His feet hit the ground with two big thumps as he stands tall to face the tank. It fires another missile at him, but he merely side steps to avoid getting hit, and raises his arm to fire a missile of his own.

It hits the tank with a clunk, and he turns away, not all amused. Behind him, the missile explodes in a great ball of fire and smoke as he's walking away.

The men hiding among the rubble begin to fire at him, but still the bullets do nothing to the well crafted suit as it rises once again into the air. Spotting the Jericho missiles from the birds-eye view, Tony aims a high powered repulsor blast at the weapon, effectively blowing it to pieces.

Raza and his men are shown driving along the mountain path just as the explosion spreads throughout the terrorist infested village.

" _Very good Dad, and all the shipment has been destroyed._ " Ana smiles

"Yes, now it's time to go home." Tony says walking away.

" _Yes, it's almost dawn_ _and, obviously, Pep will ask where are you? and..._ _By God it's already four in the morning._ " Ana says surprised

* * *

 **United States Air Base**

Monitors displaying a radar and a blinking red dot traveling along it are shown, accompanied by the confused muttering of military personnel.

"What the hell was that? Were we cleared to go in there?" One soldier leans over the desk, looking at the screen, then to the man sitting at the desk.

"No sir, they were using human shields. We never got the green light." The younger man shakes his head.

The camera quickly pans up to one man, who is clearly in charge, talking into his mic.

"Patch me through to state, they're going to be all over this."

"Get those monitors up!" Someone shouts from across the room.

"We got a bogey." the man at the desk says, reaching for the phone beside him as his free hand types on the keyboard.

"Wasn't AirForce!" One soldier provides.

"We got the CIA on the line?" The man in charge is clearly getting frustrated at this point as he asks.

"I've got Langley on the line; they want to know if it's us."

"No, it is definitely not us, sir." the soldier at the desks answers.

"It wasn't Navy." another shouts.

"Wasn't marines!"

"I need answers." the one in charge says. "Can I please get eyes on target?" A brief shot of the room at large reveals that they are no closer to getting the answers they need, so man adds. "Get me Colonel Rhodey from weapons development down here now!"

* * *

Tony flies in the middle of a deserted area.

" _Very well, dad, it seems that the system and everything is in order, we really did an excellent job_ ". Ana says smiling.

"I could not have done it without you." Tony smiles. "Where is Zaira?"

" _She sat on the chair while relaxing, when she saw that everything was fine, she relaxed so much that she fell asleep._ " Ana says fun.

Tony smiles funny since he imagines it.

* * *

Rhodey enters while everyone tries to figure out who or what the target is.

"We ran an ID check and cross-referenced with all known databases. We have nothing." the leader says as the Colonel approaches.

"Any high altitude surveillance in the region?" Rhodey asks.

"We got an AWOK and a Global Hawk in the area." one man answers.

Rhodey brow furrows in confusion as he studies the screen.

"So this thing just appeared out of nowhere?" Rhodey stands a bit straighter as he addresses the room. "How come it didn't show up on the radar?"

"Got a minimal radar cross-section, sir." Soldier at the desk's response.

Rhodey is clearly getting frustrated at this point, but his voice never shows it.

"Is it stealth?"

"No sir." the same man says. "it's... tiny. We think it's an unmanned aerial vehicle."

"Colonel." the soldier in charge lowers his voice to ask. "What are we dealing with here?"

Contemplating his answer for a minute, Rhodey lowers his head.

"Let me make a call."

* * *

" **Sir, Miss, Colonel Rhodes is calling. Shall I answer?** " JARVIS asks.

"Oh no." Ana swallows hard.

" _Yup._ " Tony says.

"Dad!" Ana hits her forehead the moment Tony accepts the call.

" _Tony_ " Rhodey said.

 _"Who's this?"_

 _"It's Rhodey."_

 _"Sorry, hello?"_ Tony tries again, the sound of air just too loud.

 _"I said it's Rhodey."_

 _"Speak up, please."_

 _"What in the hell is that noise?"_ Rhodey curses on the other line, and Tony's lips flicker into a smile.

"I take the call dad." Ana says quickly. "Hello Rhodey, how are you? I have not heard from you for days."

" _Ana, what are you doing so early? Or rather, what are you doing with Tony so early?_ " Rhodey asked.

"We're driving with the top down, I have to get my Dad out of the house." Ana says quickly.

 _"That's a great idea, well, I need Tony help right now."_

 _"It's funny how that works, huh?"_ Tony says

" _Yeah._ " Rhodeys ignores the half-hearted jab. " _Speaking of funny, we've got a weapons depot that was just blown up a few clicks from where you were being held captive._ "

" _Well, that's a hot spot."_ Tony answers quickly. " _Sounds like…_ " he takes a deep breath. " _Someone stepped in and did your job for you, huh?_ "

 _"Why do you sound out of breath, Tony?"_ Rhodey inquires, clearly suspicious now.

" _I was just jogging in the canyon_."

Ana again hits her forehead.

" _I thought you were driving._ "

"Actually, I'm driving while I see my dad exercising." Ana says while massaging her forehead. "It's just that he's been locked up so long that he needs to exercise, since that would not hurt him."

" _Tony doing exercise? I'd like to see it._ " Rhodey says trying not to laugh.

Tony growled since that was not fun.

"Zaira is also there?" Rhodey asks with suspicion.

"You know she's a heavy sleeper." Ana says without problem since she does not lie.

"True." Rhodey says he remembers the problems he has to wake her up. " _Ok, you two sure you don't have any tech that I should know about?_ " he asks again.

"Nope!"Both respond at the same time.

" _Okay, good_." the colonel says, turning to face the monitor. " _Cause I'm staring at one right now, and it's about to be blown to kingdom come._ " hung up.

"Oh no, dad, I do not like this at all." Ana says nervous.

" _Easy, everything will be fine_ ". Tony says a little quietly.

Ana sighs, but listens to an alarm on the computer and quickly looks at the screen.

"TURN OFF THE ALARM!" Zaira covers her ears. "What happens?!"

"It happens that the military located Dad and they will attack him!" Ana says terrified.

"What?!" Zaira is standing next to her terrified.

* * *

Tony looks over his shoulder as two jets appear behind him, he banks a sharp right, both jets swerving behind on his tail.

" _Dad, there are two jets behind you._ " Zaira says scared.

"Good morning Zaira, and thanks for letting me know". Tony says and starts to dodge them.

The jets chase him and try to reach him to find out what it is about.

"Ballroom, this is Whiplash One. I've got the bogey in my sights."

* * *

The jet sends to base where the leader grabs a mic.

"Whiplash One, what is it?" Rhodey asks

 _"I've got no idea."_ The jet answers, eyeing the small gold and red shape.

"You have radio contact?" The leader asks.

 _"Non responsive, sir."_

 _"_ Then you are clear to engage. _"_

* * *

Tony goes into double speed, darting up above the clouds in which the other follows.

"Hit it!"

"That bogey just went supersonic!"

"I got a lock!"

"Inbound missile!"

The man states, finger moving towards a weapon.

Tony turns, looking over his shoulder before suddenly opening flaps, catching air and flying back between the two jets.

 _"_ Holy! _"_ The jets curse, turning and circling around to try ad target it again.

* * *

"That thing just jumped off the radar, sir." The one adds to base, where the leader scowls.

"The sat visual has been lost."

" _No way that's a UAV_."

"What is it?" The leader asks to the mic.

" _I can't see anything. Whatever it was, it just bought the farm."_

 _"I think bogey's been handled, sir._ "

* * *

"Give me the phone, I'll mark Rhodey!" Zaira says with fury.

"Do you think I do not try?" Ana tries to get in touch with Rhodey.

" _I'm marking him._ " Tony says something exhausted.

" _Hello?_ " Rhodey answers

" _Hi Rhodey, it's me..._ " Tony said as soon as Rhodey picked up.

" _Who?_ " Rhodey sounded confused.

" _I'm sorry...it's me_." Tony tried giving him a hint.

" _Look, this isn't a game! Do you understand? You do not send active equipment into my war-zone! Do. You. Understand?!_ " Rhodey snapped.

" _It's not a piece of equipment, it's a suit!_ _IT'S ME!"_

" _What?_ " Rhodey asks confused.

"IT'S MY DAD!" Ana screams terrified.

* * *

Rhodey looks at the screen surprised to hear that.

"Rhodey, do you have something for me?" The leader asks to see his look.

* * *

As the first jet starts to turn around and head back to base, Tony is revealed to be clinging on to the underbelly. The other pilot notices and leans in for a closer look.

"On your belly… It looks like a... man! Shake him off! Roll! Roll!"

The pilot complies and starts rolling his aircraft as Tony clings on for dear life, but sadly, metal-clad fingers don't hold such a strong grip. His hands slip and he goes tumbling backward, directly into the wing of the second jet and ripping it clean off.

* * *

"Do you think Rhodey will cancel the attack?" Ana asks worried.

"I doubt it, if the military finds out they're going to want to confiscate the suit." Zaira says.

"If you're right." Ana looks at the screen and looks at Tony accidentally crashing with one of the Jets. "Oh no."

"What happens?" Zaira looks at the screen and sees that the pilot has trouble deploying his parachute. "This is bad."

"Oh no, Dad! The Jet pilot you crashed with is having a hard time pulling out his parachute!" Ana says.

Go help him out!" Zaira ordered him.

 _"I got this_!" Tony says

Both hold hands while waiting for everything to go well, Tony flies the pilot while the other Jet goes towards them.

"You can do it dad." Ana whispers

Tony activates the parachute to save the pilot and sees that he is safe.

"HE DID IT!"" Zaira screams with enthusiasm.

"YES!" Ana hugs her sister. "Well done dad." smiling.

" _Tony, you still there?_ " Rhodey asks.

" _Hey,_ _thank_ _s._ " Tony breathes out in response.

" _Oh, my god, you crazy son of a bitch._ " Rhodey grins, taking in a shuddering breath of relief. _"You owe me a plane. You know that, right?"_

"And you would almost have to find a new dad." Zaira says funny.

" _How to get you a new daddy?_ " Tony asks ofended.

"Ok, ok, the most important thing is that nobody got hurt." Ana says trying to avoid another fight.

" _She right, and t_ _echnically he hit me...so you wanna see what Ana, Zaira and I have been working on now?_ " Tony asks.

" _No. The less I know, the better._ " Rhodey answered. " _Now what do I tell the press?_ "

" _Training exercise. Isn't that the usual B.S.?_ " Tony oked.

" _It isn't that simple you know..._ " Rhodey sighed.

After an hour Tony returns to the garage. Tony quickly orders JARVIS to help him disarm the suit.

"WOW!" Zaira looks at the suit. "I see that you did well."

"Unfortunately the suit would not return with the painting intact." Tony says while he had trouble removing his suit.

Zaira laughs as it seems to Tony that it is difficult to remove the suit because the mechanical arms moved around my father to unscrew and disarm the suit.

 **"Sir, the more you struggle, the more this will hurt."**

"Well, it's seven in the morning and all I want to do is go to bed." Ana says trying not to laugh.

"Yes, me too, where is my sleeping pill?" Tony asks.

"I'll go for it." Ana walks away but looks at Pepper up the stairs. "Oh no, Pep." She says nervously.

"Good morning Ana." Pepper says surprised to see her. "What are you doing here so early?" confused.

"Hello pep" Ana says nervously.

Pepper is surprised to see the crystals destroyed while listening to the noise and slowly enters the garaje.

 _"_ What's going on here? _"_ Pepper asked, watching Tony balance precariously on a robotic arm.

Tony and Zaira freeze, looking at Pepper looking at them in surprise.

"Okay let's face it, this is _not_ the worst thing you've caught me doing." Tony says.

"Are those bullet holes?" Pepper whispers in horror looking down at the marks on the suit.

* * *

At noon Rhodey is dressed in his military clothing, standing at a podium and blinking calmly at the flashes of cameras

 _"_ An unfortunate training exercise… involving an F-22 Raptor occurred yesterday. I am pleased to report that the pilot was not injured. As for the unexpected turn of events on the ground in Gulmira, it is still unclear who or what intervened, but I can assure you that the United States government was not involved."

* * *

Obadiah saw the television sitting in his chair in his pajamas and robe while watching the news broadcast, he was too angry to know that his shipment had been destroyed and that he had lost millions of dollars, besides that these weapons were the last he had.

* * *

"I'm going to talk seriously with your father about what I saw, of course, after he wakes up." Pepper says while following the twins. "You two will also go to bed and when we wake up we'll talk very seriously."

"Calm down Pep, everything is fine". Ana says as she tries not to yawn.

"What you saw was nothing compared to what happened tonight." Zaira says

"The glass in the garage door is destroyed, Tony wears a metal suit, there is a hole in the house and the piano is destroyed, his mother's piano". Pepper says surprised and furious.

"The piano and the hole in the house was an accident". Zaira says nervous.

"Enough, just see your dark circles I realize that nobody slept all night and JARVIS confirmed it, so the two go to sleep and when you wake up we'll talk because I do not want what happens to affect the future of both." Pepper walks away furious.

"Pep is scary when she gets angry." Zaira says scared and Ana nods.


End file.
